The Midnight Two: Day of the Departed (V5 and a half)
by Sapphireloid
Summary: The team has been living fairly normal lives ever since the attack on the Palace, but what will happen when enemies they once thought were long dead suddenly arise thanks to a new culprit?
1. Chapter 1

_**One year after the events of Fragments**_

 _ **October 29th, 6:30 pm**_

The sound of motors blared across the arid desert, sand floating in the air from being thrown by tires. White plating on each assorted vehicle reflected the hot sun's rays, while its owners raced across the barren land, heading straight for the city. One vehicle in particular was a motorbike, its white plating dirtied by the sand and mud from previous adventures. Its owner wore a gi in shades of pink, her dark brown hair waving in the wind as she smiled in an excited manner.

"Oh, come on you guys! You're so slow!" she shouted back at her friends, the new magenta ribbon in her hair dancing in the dry wind.

"It's not a race, Karma!" the young man on another bike, Kai, shouted over his comm. Karma snickered.

"But only a few seconds ago you were bragging about how you were gonna be the first one to the museum!" she reminded him. Kai sighed.

"Sometimes I exaggerate! Don't take that seriously!" he replied. Jay snickered.

" 'Sometimes'," he repeated, flying over Kai with his jet. The master of fire grumbled something under his breath.

"Don't laugh, Jay. You're just as bad," Lilly interjected, swerving her bike around Nya's. The two masters of water snickered as Jay shouted "Hey!"

"Yeah, I can recall plenty of times were your exaggerating almost got us in trouble," Nya added, her short, pitch back hair waving in the wind. Jay huffed.

"Hey, how far is the museum again?" Cole asked, his buggy-like vehicle following Lloyd's.

"Approximately 10 miles. We are nearing the outskirts of Ninjago City," Zane informed us while sitting in the back of Jay's jet.

"Shoot, we're going to have to pick up speed. We're going to be late!" Lloyd exclaimed, his bullet-shaped vehicle picking up speed.

"Great! Gives me an opportunity to do this!" Cass shouted, before a wall of sand crashed into Karma. The master of darkness slowed down for a moment, shielding her eyes from the sand. Once it was gone, she uncovered her eyes and picked up speed.

"Hey! That wasn't fair!" she shouted as Cass sped ahead of her. The female master of wind stuck her tongue out.

"You never said there were any rules!" Cass reminded her, her wavy hair nearly blowing in her face.

"Yeah, you're right!" they both then heard Hunter shout, before his vehicle flew over them, the male master of wind himself flying beneath it and holding it up with his powers. "There are no rules!"

He then flew out from beneath his vehicle and blew himself back into his vehicle with his powers. Cass and Karma both blinked. "What the hell!? How did you do that without crushing yourself!?" Cass exclaimed.

"Category 5 hurricane force winds!" Hunter told her, audibly smiling.

"I believe it may have been more than that," Nathan added over the comm.

"Whatever, I'm taking first place back!" Cass shouted, before accelerating her bike. Karma then followed close behind her, trying not to inhale sand. The three then raced along, trading places every now and then until Karma was in first yet again. Though, the sound of Cole panicking on the comm suddenly made the trio slow down.

"Cole, are you alright!?" Cass asked over the comm, sounding concerned. The master of earth ceased to respond, and his vehicle started to sway, causing a look of worry to grow on the purple ninja's face.

"Crap! He's drifting off again!" Sammie shouted, before both her vehicle and Jay's jet went after her brother. Karma sighed as she recalled the fact that Cole had reverted back to ghost form the night after he regained his human form. It was odd, but Zane had speculated that some sort of natural event that night could have caused both Cole and Clouse to become humans for a temporary period of time.

Karma watched as they chased after Cole's vehicle, the vehicle nearly colliding with Jay's jet during one jump. Though, the vehicle landed and stopped swaying, with Cole's sounds of panic ceasing. "Everything okay?" Cass asked over the comm.

"Yeah...sorry. I was starting to drift off again. I honestly have no idea why this keeps happening," Cole apologized. It had become common lately for Cole to begin to randomly drift from this world, a phenomenon that had left his friends quite worried for his safety and wellbeing.

"It's okay. You're safe now," Sammie said, her vehicle now remaining by her brother's.

"Yeah, hopefully we can get that issue of yours under control. I can't count the number of times it almost killed me," Jay sighed, flying above them.

"Well your pranks almost kill everyone in this group so I guess that's fair, huh?" Kai replied. The master of lightning made an offended noise. The others laughed as they progressed into the city, taking shortcuts to ensure that they wouldn't run into the usual traffic. They passed buildings decorated with poppy red lanterns lit for visitors. Children were dressed in costumes resembling ancient legends and demons, as well as a few modern monsters from television shows. Some people cheered as they sped past businesses and apartment buildings, their fame not forgotten by the city they called home.

They soon arrived at their destination, the Ninjago City Museum. Ignoring a banner hanging overhead, Cass and Karma sprinted inside before everyone else, bursting through the wooden museum doors. "We're gonna be late! We'll have to resort to plan B!" Karma shouted. Cass gave a surprised look.

"Are you sure!?" she questioned.

"Look! If you're hesitant, just think of that Snickers I never ate when I was evil!" Karma replied, before Cass nodded and picked her up. She then spun, forming a purple tornado before tossing Karma as if she were a football and stopping on one foot. The pink-clad ninja flew through the door to the gift shop, her back hitting a shelf in the back that held several of the festival lanterns they had seen before. Karma then landed on the floor, with a few of the lanterns falling on her. She was silent for a moment before flashing a double thumbs-up, her expression covered by a lantern. Cass cheered.

"We made it!"

"Thank god we got here on time. I was afraid we'd never be able to get the lanterns," Lloyd gave a sigh of relief as he held his lantern. Karma smiled.

"Yeah. Next time we shouldn't leave so late though," she said. Lloyd nodded.

"Agreed."

Nya looked admiringly at her lantern before watching a group of children walk by, wearing monster costumes and chattering about one of the museum exhibits. A gentle smile grew on her face. "Oh, I just love this holiday," she commented cheerily, "I love seeing the little costumes the kids put together and just the overall happy spirit! It makes me wish things were like this more often."

Sammie nodded. "It's fantastic to see everyone working together to make the city look pretty in honor of our ancestors. It almost reminds me of _Dia de los Muertos_ , but I suppose you guys don't decorate your ancestors graves."

"Well, some people do, but it's often the city instead of the graves," Kai informed her.

"Ah, that's cool," she commented, before an older man approached the group, his mustache almost as long as their deceased sensei's beard. His wire-rimmed spectacles sat on the end of his pointy nose, and the green eyes behind them were filled with enthusiasm. His mustache and slicked-back hair was the same color as the silver necklace that complimented his crimson uniform.

"Hello, ninja!" he greeted the group, his voice squeaky but humorously similar to that of popular children's cartoon characters. "Have you come to check out the new exhibit?"

"There's a new exhibit?" Jay questioned, his single eye blinking. The old man nodded.

"Oh, yes yes! I have a feeling you all would love it very much!" he told them excitedly, "Besides, I won't charge you kids for it either."

The group looked at each other and shrugged. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt," Lloyd said, "We've got time to kill before the Royal Blacksmiths take the stage at the park."

The old man grinned in an ecstatic manner. "Glorious!" he cheered, before turning to a set of doors, "Oh, by the way, you all can call me Dr. Saunders, or Sanders Saunders if you'd like!"

" 'Sanders Saunders'?" Kai repeated in a whisper to his sister, "Like that won't become confusing."

They followed Saunders through a blank hall before he stopped at another set of doors, looking excited. "Now, if some of you looked at the banner outside, you'd know what's in this hall, but it's something that continues to tell the story of you oh-so brave men and women!"

He then pushed the door open, revealing a hall full of mannequins shown to be similar to their past enemies. Karma's stomach suddenly started to ache. "Welcome to the first hall, the hall of villains, or evildoers if you prefer!" Saunders said, walking in, "This is for the citizens to see what fearsome enemies you've met and conquered! Ah, how spooky!"

Karma heard Zane laugh nervously, though monotonously. "Yes...very spooky indeed."

The master of darkness stared at a few past enemies she had never seen before, one being a four-armed skeleton while the other being a large, humanoid snake creature with bleached skin. She then came across a tattooed humanoid figure with four arms dressed like a samurai. She could remember creatures similar to this one clearly from a particular day in her teen years she can barely remember.

She then came across a couple she could definitely remember. She could never forget the lavender color of the woman's hair. "Misaki and Sebastian..." she whispered, gripping the gold railing next to their statues, memories of Luo's death and the death of Misaki flashing through her mind, along with the sound of gunshots and Sebastian's cold stare. She sighed, squeezing the railing before moving on.

Karma then came across a mannequin with translucent green skin, his prideful eyes staring right at her. She then began to tremble slightly as the memories of her temporary possession came into mind, and how he almost made her kill Lloyd. Squeezing the railing again, she moved on, slowly zoning out from the conversations behind her.

She then came across an all too familiar figure, the bright color of his hair being enough of a giveaway as to who it was. The fact that Alex was put in the hall of evildoers wasn't much of a surprise to her, especially since only her and Lloyd knew what happened, but nonetheless the memories still hit her like a speeding truck at full force. The sound of a bone snapping and gunshots. Crimson blood staining a clean, white floor. Dead, dull eyes staring back at her. She was shaking now, the force of memories from three different people weighing down upon her. She slowly moved on.

Karma now passed the statue of the chubby man she knew as her uncle's superior, but she didn't acknowledge it. Instead, she kept moving on, passing an orange genie whose memory continued to hurt her. She then froze before the statue of a man she had known forever, whose deep purple eyes stared down upon her like they always had. Karma shook as she looked up at her uncle's mannequin, a twisted smile on his face with fake snake lines jutting out of the stand beneath him.

The master of darkness froze for a minute before dropping to her knees and trembling as the memories hit her at full force. His derogatory words. His cold, strict stare. Wu's death. The lines that had wrapped so tightly around her throat. The deaths he had caused. The searing pain of her powers being ripped from her body. The blood that leaked from the blade she had impaled him with.

Karma shook, feeling as though she were about to break out into a sob until she felt a hand on her back, causing her to freeze. "Do you need to step out?" she heard Lloyd ask gently, to which she nodded and immediately hung onto his shoulders. She walked with him to benches outside the museum.

"I know how you're feeling," Lloyd told her after a few seconds, looking down at his boots, "Seeing that statue of Morro and the Overlord nearly broke me down."

Karma nodded without a word, her mind still overloading. "It's just...hard to look at them. To look at all of them without breaking down. Everything just comes back so quickly...and my heart starts to beat so fast...And it all feels like they're coming back after me. That _he's_ coming back for me," she started to say before Lloyd patted her shoulder.

"It's okay. I know that feeling. It's normal after everything you've been through," he told her, before wrapping an arm around her shoulder and resting his head on hers, "But you're safe now, okay? I'm here, and I'm not going to let him get you. Not ever. I'll shave off his mustache first chance I get."

Karma giggled now, a slightly sad smile coming to her face. "Maybe I could assist you with that."

Lloyd laughed now. "The more the merrier," he said before they both began to laugh, the master of darkness now resting her head on her best friend's shoulder, the memories slowing down and ceasing to hurt her for now.

Meanwhile, Cole began to approach a distinct painting with a weapon resting in a case beneath it, the case being made of the most industructable clear material in the world. He could somewhat hear someone whispering something to him, but he could not tell what it was nor figuring out where it was coming from. He now noticed that the painting was of an old man with a pitch black beard that beared an odd resemblance to his old Sensei. He recognized this face as Sensei Yang, the mysterious man who had created Airjitzu and possibly murdered his own students.

The young man now looked down at the oddly-shaped weapon in the case, the weapon looking like a cross between a morning star, shuriken, and kusarigama. Cole started to wonder how much more ridiculous-looking important weapons were going to become, judging from his past experience. Though, he started to listen to the whispering again as he thought he saw the painting move.

 _"Close the circle..."_ something whispered much more audibly this time. Cole blinked in confusion.

" 'Close the circle'?" he repeated, giving a look of bewilderment at the painting of Sensei Yang. He now saw the painting's lips move, nearly making him stumble back.

 _"Close the circle, Cole. Close the circle..."_ the painting whispered to him, as if it were actually the old man himself. Cole stared at the painting for a minute, confused as to what he meant, before he started to move as if in a mindless trance. Whilst staring at the painted face of Sensei Yang, his hand phased through the supposedly impenetrable case, reaching through until his hand solidified around the handle of the blade. He then hesitantly pulled it from the case, the supposedly industructible glass only cracking when he pulled the weapon from the case.

The master of earth then turned around to look for his friends and younger sister, but they were nowhere in sight. Sighing, he only walked out of the exhibit hall, leaving behind his lantern. "I must have disconnected from this world again," he mumbled to himself, "That's fine I guess. I should probably just go see Yang himself about this whispering thing anyway."

Cole went out and shifted his vehicle into jet mode before flying out of the city, his dirt brown eyes locked on a floating island above the sand populated by dead trees and a haunting temple. Once he reached the island, he first looked out in the distance, spotting his friends' vehicles leaving the city. Sighing, he immediately jumped out of the jet and ran inside with the blade, pulling on his mask. "Yang! Where are you hiding!?" he shouted once inside, past frustration beginning build at the sound of that name. The old man walked out from behind a bookshelf, looking slightly annoyed.

"What are you doing, coming into my temple and shouting like a madman?" he questioned, before his eyes fell on the uniquely-shaped blade in Cole's hand. "...That's...the Yin Blade."

Cole acted like he knew what this blade was. "Yeah, but I got that weird message of yours, so what do you want!? You've already turned me into a damn ghost and refuse to let me be human for more than 12 hours, so what more do you want!?"

"That's not important right now. What I want to know is how you got the Yin Blade! It's supposed to be in an impenetrable case!" Yang told him, staring at the blade.

"Well, apparently ghosts can just reach through and pull it out!" Cole replied, "Now, I want to be human again! I'm tired of being in the endless cycle of being a ghost! I want to be able to do human things again, and at least be tangible to those I love!"

Yang's eyes widened as Cole pointed the blade at him, the master of earth glaring at him. "Now, hold on, there's no need to be harsh," Yang held his hands up, backing away. Cole only continued to approach him. "Where's your holiday spirit!?" Yang questioned nervously.

"Dead, along with any feelings of forgiveness I had for you," Cole told him, "One of the themes of this holiday is finishing what was started, correct!? Then how about I settle my debt now!?"

Cole lunged for Yang now, swinging the blade only to miss him, as the old man had dodged. Instead, Cole smashed a blue pot with patterns of dragons on it. Yang immediately started laughing as a mysterious green fog began to leak out of the building. The master of earth looked around in both panic and confusion. "What the hell!?"

Yang grinned beneath his scraggly, black beard. "Even ancient ghosts like me have debts to settle, boy," he said, before making one loud clap. Suddenly, Cole was flanked by the spirits Yang called his students, the ghosts holding the black-clad ninja still as he shouted and tried to squirm free. Yang only chuckled as he plucked the Yin Blade from Cole's hand.

"Ah, all a part of my plan," he said, caressing the blade. Cole gave a look of surprise and confusion.

"What plan?" he asked, almost too afraid to find out. Yang chuckled once again.

"We're in an eclipse, Cole. What do you think happens to the magic that comes out of an eclipse?" he asked.

"I dunno. People use it for healing instead of being total dinguses!?" Cole shouted in a response. The old man sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You'll see. Just give it time."

 _ **8:30pm**_

The museum was silent as the fog leaked into its halls before engulfing only the statues in the hall of evildoers and minions. Soon, the assorted group of enemies started to regain consciousness and begin to look around...all but one at least.

When Alex regained consciousness, he gasped and fell off the stand he was once frozen on. He cringed as his head hit the floor, before patting his chest to feel for the wounds he knew he had, but they were no longer there. The young man instantly looked at the hand he knew had been broken, only to find that it worked just fine. Now he was entirely confused, especially because of the fact that he felt more energized than before.

 _Am I dead? Am I alive? What dimension am I in? What the heck is going on?_ he thought to himself as he sat up, rubbing his head. Upon spotting the ceiling of the museum, he asked himself _Is this Hell!? If so, Hell is classy as heck._

Alex went to stand up, but instantly sat back down when he heard a familiar voice ask "Who are all of you!?"

 _Shit. Clouse is here. I'm so dead._ he though to himself before flattening himself on the floor and attempting to crawl away from what sounded like Clouse's voice as all the individuals in the room questioned who was who. Alex crawled past what seemed like a huge, wooden chair before refraining to look at who he was passing, but he wasn't as stealthy as he thought.

As soon as he thought he was free, a bony hand grabbed the back of his head and pulled him off the floor by his hair, causing the master of psion to yelp from the pain. "Well, leaving so soon?" Clouse questioned with vile intent in his eyes. Alex only tried to pry Clouse's hand from his hair, his eyes watering from the pain. He already had an idea of what Clouse intended to do, especially since he had assisted Karma with his death.

Though, suddenly, a foot connected with Clouse's face and kicked him away, leaving the master of psion to faceplant on the floor. He didn't remain on the floor for long though, as the person who had kicked Clouse away lifted him right back up to his feet. "Oh my god, it is you!" his somewhat savior, the woman he recognized as Misaki cheered before she crushed him in a tight hug. "Ah! One of my babies has grown up so well!"

"I...can't...breathe!" the master of psion croaked, feeling as if his ribs were being crushed. Misaki released him immediately, apologizing. "Besides, why are you still calling me a baby!? I'm in my twenties!" Alex replied, feeling embarrassed, "Why did you even call anyone in our group 'babies'!?"

"Aww, you may be twenty-something but you'll always be the same little teenage edgelord I met!" Misaki smiled, to which Alex's face became red.

"Hey! Don't bring up my past right now!" he shouted, embarrassed by his own teenage self. Misaki giggled.

"Ah, if only I could find Seok and Estera...and whoever shot me," she said, to which Alex froze in place. The sudden memory of Sebastian encouraging him to shoot bursting into his mind, and watching the bullet pierce her. Misaki was the first person he had ever killed. She wouldn't know that Seok and Estera had died.

"I do too. It's too unfortunate that neither of us could catch a glimpse of that bastard," Sebastian's voice startled Alex as he walked out from behind Misaki, his dark red hair still styled in the same way it was on the day of his death. Alex was the only one who knew that Sebastian had planned her death. He now couldn't understand why he ever looked up to this man, but then again he doesn't understand his own decisions to look up to people younger than him.

"Hmmm. You! My fine lady!" a thickly-accented voice called, to which Alex froze up again, knowing exactly who this voice belonged to. "Would you like me to grant you a wish? I'm in such a dire need to assist such a beautiful woman like you."

Misaki turned to look at Nadakhan as he floated past Sebastian and Alex, ignoring them. The master of illusion narrowed her eyes. "No thanks. I'd rather not take wishes from some creep who looks like a circus peanut who was left on a hot sidewalk for too long."

"Uh..." Nadakhan was at a loss for words, "...Are you complimenting me or...?"

"No, I'm saying you look like utter shit and better get out of my line of sight in the next five seconds if you don't want me to rip that tacky-ass mustache off your face!" Misaki snapped, to which Nadakhan hurried away from her. Then, Morro floated past them, grumbling something under his breath as he passed, but he then turned around as an inhuman shriek broke out.

Everyone turned around to see that the bleached snake creature known as Pythor had torn apart the half-alive statue of the Overlord, black smoke billowing from the torso and hips of the statue as the python man smirked to himself. Everyone then turned back to their own conversations, passing it off as enemies settling their debts and grudges. Though, as everything started to get quieter and the sounds of Clouse greeting his old superior, Chen, grew louder, Misaki wrapped an arm around Alex's shoulder, smiling.

"So, tell me, how'd you get stuck in here? Most of these guys look like those baddies who used to plague the city. Did you do something big?" she inquired. Alex refrained from laughing nervously. _Oh, I've done many things I really regret. Terrorized a city, killed an innocent man just to impress some old teammate who could give less of a damn, accidentally killed a girl's mom because my mind got pushed too far, brought an asshole out of an eternal prison he should have stayed in, and was forced to shoot my estranged father aka the President. I'm feeling absolutely fan-freaking-tastic._

Before he could answer her though, they all were called to a painting at the center of the exhibit, a painting of an old man with a beard as black as the night sky. The painting then began to move as if it were human, making Alex question further how sane he really was. He wondered if his brain damage had gotten more severe.

"Good evening, I'm sure you all are confused, but do not worry, I will soon explain," the painting explained before introducing himself, "My name is Sensei Yang, and I'm the one who brought you all back to life. You all are currently standing in the Ninjago Museum of History, which is near the center of the city."

"Pardon me for asking, but why did you bring us back to life? Is there some catch to this?" Sebastian asked.

"Uh, yeah, and isn't this Djinn supposed to be alive and trapped in a sword!?" Clouse questioned. Nadakhan glared at him.

"Well, first, Mr. Nadakhan died of starvation in his sword. A Djinn can only go 12 hours without food, unlike a human," Yang explained, "And second, there is a little bit of a catch. You see, I have a little plan."

"What exactly it it!?" Samukai, the four-armed skeleton asked, pushing Cryptor aside for a moment. Yang smiled.

"Well, tonight's a lunar eclipse, and a night famous for settling debts. So, I thought, why not give you all a chance to get revenge on those pesky ninja that killed you!?" Yang told them, to which a few of the people cheered. Alex already had a bad feeling about this. "Yes? Sounds fantastic? Good. Though, I should warn you all that their numbers have now increased to twelve."

The crowd booed at this news. Though, Yang didn't stop. "That shouldn't stop you from getting revenge, so I'll allow you all to choose a ninja you'd like to go after, because I know you all have grudges."

The crowd then cheered furiously, to which Alex dropped to his hands and knees and attempted to crawl out of the crowd. He managed to avoid being spotted by Misaki and Sebastian, but it was Clouse who noticed him, due to the master of psion accidentally bumping into his leg. The man instantly lunged for him, but Alex teleported away immediately, landing on one of the beams on the ceiling in a split second.

The master of psion snickered inside his head as he watched Clouse search for him as Yang spoke, before the man gave up and returned his attention to the painting. Alex then started to listen in on Yang's closing details.

"Now, remember, you will return back to the world of the dead once the eclipse is over, so I recommend you hurry! You do not have much time!"

The crowd below nodded and cheered, splitting up and running out of the hall. Though, Clouse and Chen were the slowest of the bunch. "Sir, could I recommend we go for _something else_ before we go chasing after that boy with ridiculous hair?" Clouse asked, his permanent scowl making it hard to interpret his meaning. Alex narrowed his eyes and listened in.

"I'm sure it can wait, Clouse. I want back at this boy for seducing my daughter!" Chen growled, mechanical legs growing out from the bottom of his wooden throne. Clouse sighed.

"I hope you know she's now seduced by a woman and basically dumped him," he informed his boss, "Now can we do my task first!? I have unfinished business that could benefit our cause greatl-!"

"No Clouse, I still want revenge on that boy!" Chen shouted, before he and his chair scurried out of the hall. Clouse followed, grumbling under his breath and leaving Alex hanging from one of the beams on the ceiling. _'Something else', huh?_ the master of psion thought _, You're not going after Karma, are you? Oh, what am I doing questioning your logic!? Of course you are! You were hung up on getting your family to think like you, Clouse!_

Alex dropped from the ceiling and teleported to the floor, still surprised by the fact that it didn't feel like his energy was being sapped at all. He started to wonder if he had gained his full power back. In order to truly figure find out, he crouched down and placed both hands on the smooth, cold floor and focused. Soon enough, the whole building began to rumble as if it were being moved. After discovering the rumbling, Alex removed his hands from his floor and grinned like a child who had just gotten a new toy.

"Oh god, I forgot how much more I could lift when at full power," he whispered, his voice shaking with excitement. He looked at his hands, which were surrounded by a light pink aura. Though, he let the aura disappear, and sighed. "Keep a hold of yourself, Alex. Let's not go power crazy," he mumbled to himself before rising to a stand. He then looked around for a moment before walking out of the exhibit and out into the front lobby, which seemed to be empty.

"Must be closed," he mumbled to himself before walking over to the attendant's desk and searching for any kind of info. He pushed pens and assorted papers off the desk before he found a calendar that was obviously in use. Curious as to what day this is, he followed the lines of X's before he came across an unmarked date, October 29th. A surprised look came to his face.

"Holy crap, I came back on my birthday," he blinked, before snickering. "Some birthday present. Let's see how old I am."

He moved a paper off the side of the desk calendar and raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Huh. I'm 25. Guess we skipped my 24th, unless my death was my early present for that year...God, now I feel old and I really shouldn't."

Alex then pushed away from the desk and hummed, deciding to walk back into the exhibit. He figured that he'd wait a little bit before he dropped in and crashed Clouse's plans, but he couldn't help but worry that he'd be too late. Though, he had great faith in Karma and her friends. He knew they'd be able to hold off this horde of jerks. They'd easily be able to hold off Clouse.

Once he reentered the exhibit, he stared at the painting of Sensei Yang for a moment, questioning how exactly it had moved and talked earlier. Was it haunted? Was it an automaton? He couldn't tell, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to find out. The master of psion's eyes then fell on the empty case below it, a golden tag reading The Yin Blade. Alex could almost bet it probably looked weird. It was how all of Ninjago's historic weapons looked.

 _Why do you want back at the ninja so bad?_ he asked the painting in his head, glaring at it. _Did someone do something to you? Are you just jealous of something? Is one of them a relative? What would make you willingly bring all of us vile people back to life just for a few hours!? Perhaps you feed off of chaos?_

Alex stared at it for a few moments before sighing and turning away from it. _Perhaps I may never have an answer, but I hope they kick your ass,_ he thought to himself before looking up and freezing in place.

There at the opposite end of the exhibit stood Karma and Lilly, clad in their gi and giving the same exact shocked look Alex was giving. It was silent for several seconds as the duo stared back at him, shocked by the fact that he was actually standing here before them and breathing once again. Though, Karma broke the silence by shouting "You ass!"

She darted over to him immediately and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him and yelling, "You either fake your death or come back to life and don't tell me!? Had I known you did this I would have come here and kicked your ass sooner! What the hell are you doing here!?"

"Ah...well...it's a long story...but I promise I didn't fake my death! I'm not crappy like that!" Alex held up his hands, to which she stopped shaking him. Karma's expression remained angered for a moment before it softened and she sighed. Then, unexpectedly, she hugged him, causing the master of psion to freeze up.

"Whatever. It's just good to see you, especially after all I witnessed that day," Karma said, before releasing him. Alex nodded, though his face was becoming warm.

"Yeah...it's uh...nice not to be near-death right now," he replied, not really knowing what to say in the first place. Though they were soon interrupted by Lilly's glare.

"Wait, what's going on here!? I don't understand," she squinted, her hand hovering over the hilt of her katana. Karma immediately put her hands up.

"Woah, hold on! I understand I forgot to tell a piece of what happened at the Government Palace but chill for a moment!" the master of darkness pleaded her friend, before proceeding to tell her, "Look, Alex helped us defeat Clouse, and he's the one who kept Lloyd alive through the fight. Not to mention, he's the one who snapped me out of my destructive trance, and sort of helped me realize my uncle was a huge dingus."

"But I don't understand. He killed your mother, Karma. He killed Xavier! Why the hell would you suddenly ally with him!?" Lilly questioned. Alex cringed at the mention of Mrs. Lee's and Xavier's deaths.

"Yes, I did kill them, but that doesn't mean I don't regret it deeply," Alex spoke up, "Look...you can continue to hate me and everything if you'd like, if you'd think that'd help you, but just know I'm trying to better myself. You don't even have to acknowledge me, okay? You can act like I've never existed, but I'm still going to exist for others, alright? I'm going to be honest, I'm not going to sit here and blame my brain damage for this, because I know I was flawed at the same time, and if I'm going to say anything about the past...all I'm going to say is that I'm sorry."

Lilly blinked and was silent for a moment before removing her hand from the katana's hilt but continuing to glare. "Fine. I'll give you a chance, but if you even do so much as make one misstep I will NOT hesitate to cut you down, you hear me!?" she told him, to which Alex nodded.

"Of course. I wouldn't have it any other way," he replied. Lilly then nodded.

"Good. Now...can you tell me what the hell brought you back and what happened to the other statues!?" she asked. Alex then looked back at the painting of Sensei Yang.

"I believe it was that guy," he said, pointing at the painting, "He's the one who told us what's all happening and what his plan is."

"Sensei Yang?" Karma and Lilly asked in unison. Alex nodded.

"Yeah, he was telling us that tonight we could settle our debts against you guys and basically kill all of you," he went on, "I think he even named off all of you to them so they'd know who to go after...but oddly enough I didn't hear him mention that ghostly guy with you guys, Cole. He...uh...he didn't die at the Palace..did he?"

Karma shook her head. "No, but he disappeared for some odd reason earlier and none of us have been able to find him. His sister's worried sick," she told him, "I came back here to both retrieve my phone and try to find Cole, but instead we ran into you and found out about this."

"Oh...well...I'm sorry if I'm interrupting that," Alex apologized, to which Karma gave a confused look.

"Dude, what are you apologizing for? You're not interrupting anything. In fact, you're pretty helpful for filling us in on the crap Yang's pulling," she replied.

"Hey, I don't mean to butt in, but I have a sort of theory," Lilly broke in, "Considering he said that Yang never mentioned Cole...you don't think Cole's with him, don't you? Like, maybe he's trapped him."

"That's possible, and Yang could have lead him here, considering that Cole's vehicle is gone," Karma added, before smiling, "God, I feel smart. We figured that out pretty quickly, huh? Maybe all this intelligence is coming from the fact that I'm trilingual."

"I don't think now's the time to brag about your-" Lilly began to say, but Alex interrupted her.

 _"Sou desu ka?"_ he replied, to which Karma froze for a moment.

"What the hell!? You told me you couldn't speak Japanese!" she said in a shout, turning around to face him. Alex only snickered.

 _"Ty simpatichnaya, isklyuchitel'no kak tol'ko vy tam yest' obezumevshiy,"_ he went on, now speaking in his native language.

"What are you saying!?" Karma questioned, looking a bit frustrated. The master of psion only went on.

 _"Je pense que tu es intelligent dans tous les cas de comment de nombreux tu parles,"_ he said, to which the master of darkness huffed.

"Okay, I get it, you're quadlingual...show off," she mumbled, though Lilly gave a surprised look.

"Actually that last sentence was a compliment...and that's the first compliment I've ever heard come out of his mouth," she told Karma. The master of darkness raised an eyebrow. She had to admit, she had forgotten that her best friend could speak French.

"Basically, he said _'I think you're smart regardless of how many languages you speak'_ ," Lilly translated. The master of psion scratched his head nervously.

"I'm sorry if I conjugated anything wrong or whatever. I never did really finish my French class in my high school days," he apologized.

"It's alright. I could understand what you were trying to say," Lilly nodded, before Karma punched Alex in the arm.

"If you were gonna compliment me you didn't need to say it in another language," she mumbled, before Lilly sighed.

"Well, anyways, we should go look for Cole and warn the others about this as soon as we can," she said, before giving a sympathetic look at Karma, "I'm sorry we're putting off the time you wanted to spend with your father and uncle."

"It's alright...I'd rather get this over with first to be honest, especially since it looks like Clouse is running about out there too," Karma replied, placing her phone in a pouch connected to a second belt beneath her first cloth one. She didn't look thrilled about the idea that she'd have to fight her uncle again, but she maintained a sort of melancholic smile. "But anyways, do you want to come along with us, Alex? You can help out."

The master of psion wanted to say yes, but he knew that if he even dared to look at her friends he would end up with a blade in his face and recollections of things he will forever be guilty for. Not to mention, he had an idea of Clouse's plans, and something was telling him to stop it in its tracks. He decided to shake his head, declining her offer. "I'm sorry, but maybe later. There's...something I need to do first. I forgot to say thank you to someone for something they did for me."

Karma nodded in understanding. "That's alright. Go ahead. Maybe we can group up later," she smiled, "See you later then."

"Right," Alex said, before the duo began to walk out of the room. He paused for a moment before speaking again. "Oh, and Karma?"

"Yeah?" she replied, turning around.

"You two be careful out there, alright? I have a feeling the magic the eclipse emits may be strengthening those who are coming for you...a-and I don't want to see you guys get hurt, alright?" Alex told her, "Just don't do anything stupid!"

The master of darkness smiled and nodded. "Same to you. But as for those baddies? They're nothing we can't handle. There's a reason why they're defeated after all!"

Alex smiled and watched them walk out of the exhibit. Though, he couldn't help but feel nervous about what could happen in the next couple hours. He was afraid of what the enemies were scheming, and what the magic-users would do. He was mostly afraid of what Nadakhan and Clouse were going to do.

"Well...I may have a few hours...but that doesn't mean I can't assist the ninja," he mumbled to himself before tightening the bandages around his arms and hands. He then turned towards the painting of Yang, glaring at it. "You told me to settle my debts tonight, right?" he asked it, knowing he would never get an answer. He then formed his hands into the sign that would allow him to teleport.

"Well, lucky for you, I have many."

 _ **A/N: Remember when I said I'd end this at five volumes?**_

 _ **I lied...but count this as a short, okay? Or a special. Kinda like the actual episode.**_

 _ **I am, for sure, not making another volume after this though...just sayin.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**_9:00 pm, Yang's Temple_**

Cole knelt on the dusty, wooden floor as he looked down at his vengestone-chained wrists, frowning. He listened to the quiet swishing sounds of Sensei Yang and his students floating to and from upper levels, the Sensei's students poker faces sending chills down the master of earth's spine. They didn't even remotely look conscious, even in their ghostly state. Cole sighed.

"Yang, why are you doing this?" he asked, before looking up at the ghostly man, "Why are you turning this eclipse against us!? What are you gaining from stealing the Yin Blade back!?"

The old man simply turned to look at him, the unimpressed eyes that were sunken into his skull glaring at the young man. "You really want to know why?" he questioned. Cole nodded.

"Of course! I just freakin' asked you why you were doing this!" the master of earth raised his voice. Yang sighed.

"Well, when I was still thriving in my days of being a sensei, I came across the Yin Blade whilst looking through old artifacts from the days the First Spinjitzu Master was alive. Seeing as that it had to have some sort of significance, I studied it for days on end while developing the art of Airjitzu," the old man spoke, "One day, I found that it granted eternal life to the objects around me, so, of course, I tried to make myself immortal, but unfortunately I only trapped my students and I in this state. Now, I'd like to gain my living form again and grant immortality to my students, hence why I'm using this eclipse's magic!"

"But aren't you already technically immortal since you're a ghost? I mean, come on, you're hundreds of years older than me!" Cole replied, giving Yang an unimpressed look. Yang huffed.

"Don't question my logic, boy!" he told him, "Besides, I miss the feeling of carpet."

"And you think I don't miss being able to touch things too?" Cole retorted. Yang glared at him.

"Whatever, but I created something to occupy your little friends while I regain my form," he went on.

"Like they'll stay occupied! They know I'm missing!" Cole shouted. Yang raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really? Because you're fading from their memory faster than you yourself can fade from existence!" he retorted, "Did you even wonder why they didn't wait around for you!?"

Cole frowned, beginning to feel hurt. "You're lying! My sister wouldn't forget about me! Neither would my father!"

Yang laughed in his face. "Really!? Because they would have called for your name when you were left in the museum! Face it, Cole! They've forgotten! You've been forgotten on the day known for remembrance!"

The master of earth struggled to find words to shout back before sighing and looking at the floor. He knew it was true. They hadn't waited for him. They never do. He couldn't count the times Kai had left him at countless gas stations, or the time Nathan accidentally left him at a restaurant. He was grateful for the fact that his younger sister and Cass remembered him more than most, but now he was afraid they too were forgetting. He frowned, feeling hurt and slightly defeated.

"Anyways, I have a few visitors coming to visit all of them soon," Yang spoke suddenly, causing Cole to look up from the floor with alarm.

"What do you mean?" he asked, afraid to know. The ghastly old man smirked.

"See for yourself," he told Cole before waving the Yin Blade over the floor. Instantly, a hologram popped up and showcased different enemies from the past approaching separate locations. Cole gasped as he recognized all of them. _Morro. Samukai. Misaki. Kozu. Chen. Alex. Everyone._

Cole then looked up at Yang with a scared expression, his dirt brown eyes wide. "Please...please tell me you didn't bring them back...Please tell me you're screwing with me."

Yang smirked. "I'm not a man of pranks, Cole."

The master of earth then returned to looking at the floor now, shaking from anxiety. He knew it would probably be easy to defeat them all again, but what he truly feared was if they all were teaming up or stronger than before. He also knew his teammates were split up for the holiday and more than likely alone, which frightened him the most, as he knew they had only been able to defeat those enemies as a team. Cole sighed.

 _"Please...you guys...stay safe.."_

 _ **The Liu Blacksmith Shop, Ignacia**_

A small, red lantern illuminated the main room in the blacksmith shop as Kai and Nya sat around it, a warm kettle of the holiday's traditional tea and a picture of their dear parents beside them. The shelved weapons around them reflected both light and memories as the siblings sat in silence, cherishing the memory of their late parents. Kai sighed and poured himself a cup of the spiced tea, looking away from the framed photo.

"It's weird sitting in here again. It's like we haven't been here in over a hundred years," he commented before taking a sip of the tea. Nya nodded and gave a small smile.

"Yeah. It's weird how this place isn't dusty or anything," she commented.

"Well, it was said that Mr and Mrs Yao came by here about every week. Maybe they kept it clean," Kai replied. His sister smiled once again.

"I wouldn't be surprised. They were the people who looked after us after Mom and Dad's...incident," Nya reminded her brother, "They probably kept this place clean in case we ever came back."

Kai was the one smiling now. "Yeah, you're right," he said, before snickering, "Heh, you know, if they knew what happened to Sensei Wu, they'd probably offer to take care of the whole team, including Misako."

Nya chuckled. "You're not wrong."

They were silent again for a few minutes before Nya suddenly noticed something. "Crap, I forgot to get the little cakes!" she exclaimed before rising to her feet, "Hopefully Mr. Cho's shop is still open. I'd hate to let a Day of the Departed go by without his holiday cakes."

"He's usually open on holidays, so he should still be there," Kai said, before handing his sister her blades, "Don't leave without these though. I heard it's still a little dangerous in his part of Ignacia."

Nya nodded and attached the sheaths to her belt. "I'll be careful, don't you worry."

Kai nodded and watched his sister walk out of the shop before turning back to the lantern. He then looked back at the photo of his parents, their smiling faces making his heart ache for a moment. They had to be about his age in the photo, and it had to be sometime after the Serpentine Wars when the photo was taken. He started to wonder what they'd think of him and his sister's progress now.

 _They'd be proud, right? We've come so far and survived so much, we've surely proven ourselves to be great. Though, I don't think they'd be proud of my old habits. My wants to be the special one, my habits of going from woman to woman in a short amount of time, my impulsiveness, my temper, everything. I can't count the number of times I've almost ruined things,_ Kai thought to himself, _Would they still be proud of me despite these things? I think they would, but I still have my doubts. It's so hard to tell._

The master of fire crossed his legs and took another sip of his tea, wishing he could have a solid answer, but there was no way that he'd ever get one. He could only hope and assume. _Maybe they would be proud. I mean, my teammates have stayed with me despite everything. Lilly has stayed with me despite everything. Nya has stayed with me despite everything. Maybe I'm thinking too much._

Kai went to pour himself another cup when all of the sudden he heard several _thuds_ outside, causing him to freeze immediately. Instinctively, he put down his tea and grabbed his katana, walking to the entryway of the blacksmith shop. Once he was outside, he instantly looked around for his sister, only to find Chen, Clouse, and their goons standing before him. The master of fire froze in his tracks immediately as he tried to comprehend how possibly these long-deceased enemies were standing in front of him.

"Good evening, Kai. Enjoying your holiday?" Chen sniggered, the red makeup beneath his eyes smudged more than usual. Anger began to boil inside Kai just from the sight of him.

"What the hell!? You all are supposed to be dead!" he shouted, glaring at the two men. Chen smiled, his elaborate but ridiculous headdress just adding to his look.

"Not anymore. A new friend of mine brought us back for one night only," he exclaimed, before his smile turned sinister, "And one night is all I need."

Kai blinked, his hand hovering over the handle of his katana. He started to question inside his head where his sister was and whether she was okay, but Chen stopped him before he could ask anything. "Clouse, how about you give him an early Halloween treat?" Chen requested his assistant, to which the greasy-haired man stepped forward.

"Of course, sir," he replied, before withdrawing a rapier from its sheath and preparing his snakelike lines. Immediately, the lines shot towards Kai, to which he pulled his katana from its sheath and blocked it. In no time at all, his katana met Clouse's blade and they traded slashes, with Kai dodging his lines here and there.

"What did you assholes do with my sister!?" Kai shouted, assuming they had already faced her. Clouse maintained his usual unphased face.

"We haven't run into her once," he told the master of fire, to which Kai didn't believe him. The red-clad ninja swung a few more times before speaking again.

"You're lying! You did something with her, didn't you!?" he shouted. Clouse started to look annoyed.

"If we had captured her we would have shown it off, boy! It's what everyone does! We don't have her!" he replied in a shout, before kicking Kai away. The master of fire decided to not question him further and lunged for the man.

They traded slashes and blocks once again, though, Kai started to notice something odd with Clouse's arms. Every time he swung for him, his arms would turn away from Kai and miss him, as if somebody were turning Clouse's arms away from him. Despite being confused as to why this was happening, Kai took advantage of this and sliced Clouse's shoulder while he missed.

The man growled and slashed at him again, to which this time Kai watched as a faint pink aura surrounded Clouse's arms and pushed them away from Kai. Questioning what it was in his head, the master of fire this time kicking him back to Chen.

"What are you doing, Clouse!? Get after him!" Chen shouted at his assistant impatiently. Clouse grumbled something under his breath and got up.

"My apologies, sir. My arms are terrible," he said, before jumping back into battle. Though, he only missed again and gained a cut on his leg from Kai. The master of fire then grasped the blade of Clouse's rapier and melted it with his powers, resulting in a cut on his hand from the blade. He then turned and threw a fireball at a mechanical leg beneath Chen's chair, resulting in the leg exploding. Clouse gasped and immediately ran over to his superior.

"Sir, are you-!?" Clouse began to ask, but Chen held a hand up.

"No, Clouse, don't even ask," he grumbled, before his chair sat him upright again, "I'll handle this myself with the boys."

"But sir! I have it under control!" Clouse argued. Chen laughed in a sarcastic manner.

" 'Under control'!? You've missed every easy swing you could have landed on him and you're allowing yourself to get hit! You're growing far too clumsy!" he replied, to which Clouse started to look hurt, "How about you go look for the girl instead and stop getting in my way!?"

"But sir-!" Clouse started to argue, but he was cut off yet again.

"No, you've failed me for tonight, Clouse. Now go, get out of my sight before I group you with that boy!" Chen commanded him, to which Clouse silently nodded and walked away. Chen then turned to Kai, his wrinkled fingers hovering over the buttons to his chair as the master of fire raised his katana once again. "Now, Kai, where were we!?"

 _ **The Outskirts of Ignacia, 9:20 pm**_

Clouse trudged through the rocky outskirts of Ignacia, bitterness about being sent away by his superior during a fight filling up his mind. Despite having a back-up plan on what to do if he was sent away, he still despised the fact that Chen had sent him aside because of a dumb mistake. He cursed, clenching his fists and kicking a small rock in his path.

"What was all that about!? He knows I'm the strongest of his men!" he ranted aloud, using a snake line to throw another rock, "I've killed countless people! How come I'm suddenly too clumsy and stupid to face off with one of the descendants of those I've killed!?"

He grumbled once more, kicking another rock. "Whatever, it doesn't matter," Clouse thought to himself, "I'll pursue my own plans and restart my own road to regime. Who needs Chen anyway!?"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice whispered within the breeze blowing through the rocks. The man looked around instantly, his powers tingling at his fingertips.

"What the hell!?" Clouse shouted, "Show yourself!"

"No thank you," the voice replied, "You shouldn't need to see me to know who I am. You already know me."

Clouse huffed. He honestly didn't care who it was. "Whatever! What do you want!? Why do you dare interfere with me!?"

The voice made a slight chuckle. "It's not about what I want, _it's about what I know_ ," it responded, "I know where you're going and what you plan to do, and quite frankly I don't agree with it."

"Who do you think you are? Some sort of vigilante of justice? Or some overbearing fool who thinks he's the next messiah?" Clouse looked around for the source of the voice, nervously grinning. This wouldn't be the first time he thought he was hearing vengeful spirits. He then heard the voice laugh as if he had just told a joke. "Hey! What's so funny!?" he shouted.

"Oh yes, I'm an overbearing fool alright, but what are you?" the voice asked, "A murderer? An asshole? An overwhelming failure? Ah, these all just fit way too much!"

"I'm not a failure!" Clouse shouted, destroying one of the nearby rocks with the Dark Arts.

"Oh? But what about what Mr. Chen said? How you absolutely failed at killing the master of fire? How about how you failed to convince him for a second chance?" the voice continued, "How about the fact that your niece and her friends killed you effortlessly, even at full power? And now you really have the audacity to even try to face them again!?"

Clouse froze, anger boiling inside him. "How do you know that? We were the only four there!"

"Are you really that much of an idiot? Perhaps Chen's stupidity really is contagious," the voice sounded closer now. "You really can't figure out who I am?"

A figure now gently floated to the top of one of the pillar-like boulders, the features shown clearly in the pale green light of the eclipsed moon. His flame-colored hair danced in the wind while the light reflected the dark blue color of his eyes. Clouse's expression angered immediately, to which a smile came to the figure's face.

"Hello again, Clouse," Alex greeted in a honeyed voice, much more confident than the voice Clouse had heard earlier today. The man gave a confused stare, bewildered as to why he was smiling. "Boy, do we have a lot of catching up to do."

"You..." Clouse said, backing away, "What do you think you're doing? Aren't you supposed to be going after the world and its rulers!?"

Alex snickered, then looked down at him. "It's a nice thought, but no thank you. I actually had a better idea in mind."

Clouse was silent for a moment, bewildered until he realized what Alex's intent was, especially from the fact of what had happened a year ago. He then smiled. "Oh I see," he replied, stepping forward, "You want all the glory to yourself, don't you? And you're going to try to take me on by yourself, huh?"

"I wouldn't say I'm looking for glory, but it'd be nice to kick your ass. It'd be a fantastic birthday present," the master of psion replied, before floating down to the ground. Clouse sniggered.

"Huh, well, tell me then, who prompted you to do this? Who gave you the orders, or who are you doing this for?" he questioned, "I know you're someone who doesn't do anything without the orders of another."

Alex smiled. "I'll give you a few minutes to figure it out yourself."

Clouse stood back for a moment, confused as to what he meant before the master of psion's fist suddenly connected with his face, throwing him into a boulder. Clouse coughed, gasping as he tried to catch up with what was happening. "You left yourself open," Alex teased, "Isn't that something you used to get onto me about?"

The man immediately got up, brushing himself off as he glared at the master of psion. Clouse then shot his lines out towards Alex, to which he easily blocked with a stray boulder. He then turned and threw the boulder at Clouse with his powers, to which he dodged. Though, Clouse used this as an opportunity to run up to the young man and use his lines again, to which Alex shattered them with another boulder immediately.

"Oh, come on! Your niece does better that and she's way younger than you! Are you even trying!?" he shouted, throwing Clouse into a boulder with his powers, "Maybe that's why you so desperately wanted her on your side! Just so she wouldn't screw you up like she did at the Palace!"

Clouse groaned and stepped out of the boulder, his back now bruised. He was becoming more agitated by the second. "You don't understand..." he told Alex as he walked towards him. The master of psion cocked his head to one side with a questioning glance.

"What do I not understand, Clouse? How incredibly stupid you are? How determined you are to control those around you!?" Alex shouted in a sarcastic manner. Clouse only proceeded to approach him, his deep purple eyes locked on him.

"Oh, just you wait," he told the young man as he directed his energy behind the master of psion. His lines then impaled Alex's shoulder and forearm, causing him to gasp. Though, the master of psion freed himself immediately and lunged for Clouse, ignoring his bleeding injuries. The man only dodged him, and immediately put his old but new method of stopping Alex into action.

"You know, I could easily kill you like I did your mother," Clouse told him, to which Alex whipped his head around, glaring.

"I'd like to see you try," he told him, brushing off his bloodied shoulder. Clouse smirked.

"But haven't I already tried and succeeded? Didn't I stab you at the Palace?" he questioned. Alex gave an unimpressed look.

"Yeah, and I lived. What's your point?" he asked, before swinging a fist at Clouse's face. This time, the man simply stepped back.

"Then how are you alive? Surely blood loss must have hit you after Seiko killed me," he questioned, stepping away as Alex swung for him again. The master of psion froze for a moment with his eyes wide, before swinging at him once more.

"Nothing you need to be worried about! If I were you I'd be more worried about whether I'll be alive in the next few minutes!" he shouted as Clouse continued to dodge him. The man smirked.

"How odd. Perhaps you died the same way your mother did? Did someone sneak up on you?" he continued. Alex started to look more agitated.

"No, now shut up!" he shouted, actually landing a punch on Clouse's face once again. The man only rubbed his face and stepped back once more.

"You know, speaking of her, your mother was quite a nice woman," Clouse went on, smirking, "She took me in, believing that I actually was a beggar in need of food. She said she'd make me soup and everything."

"Didn't I just tell you to shut up!?" Alex shouted, throwing half a boulder at Clouse with his powers. The man simply stepped aside to dodge it.

"You know, she talked about you a lot. How proud she was of your grades. How excited you were over every science project in class. Everything," Clouse told him, sensing how unstable he was starting to become, "What a shame now, huh?"

"I said shut up!" Alex shouted, missing a punch this time and stumbling past Clouse. The man smirked once more.

"It wasn't that hard to kill her anyway. She let her guard down way too easily. All it called for was a simple stab to the neck," Clouse went on, "She never saw it coming."

This time, Alex only screamed out of rage, attempting to throw Clouse into a boulder with his power, but unfortunately nothing happened. His powers had halted from his instability. Clouse smiled now. "There we go. That's better," he said, before suddenly wrapping a snakelike line around Alex's throat and lifting him off the the ground. He then tightened the line around his throat, causing the master of psion to gag.

"You know, when it comes down to it, you're just as vulnerable as her," Clouse told Alex as the master of psion clawed at the lines around his throat, "How pitiful."

The lines continued to tighten as Alex tried to think of a way to free himself, whilst trying to break free of the swirling, terrible memories that plagued him. Clouse began to circle him like he had always done. "It's a shame. You wanted to prove to the ninja that you were different now, didn't you?" he asked, before sniggering, "Hah, even if you would have killed me they would have only seen you for what you are, a murderer. A boy who damages his own brain just to bend to someone else's will. You're nothing special, and killing me wouldn't have done anything for you, or your deceased mother."

Alex coughed once more, wishing Clouse would just release him, but he knew he never would. _Dammit. What would those other guys do? I mean, come on, they've fought Clouse before. What got them out of this!? he thought, before a faint memory popped into his mind._

He recalled the time he first met Chen with Sebastian, and asking about the odd snake tattoos on the backs of his guards. Chen had told them they were special markings that had granted them abilities that assisted them in protecting Chen. He then recalled the time last year when Clouse tried to pull Karma's Dark Arts marking from her body, and how Clouse had said he kept his hidden. _If he's one of Chen's guards, it has to be on his back, right? Might as well give it a shot._

The master of psion quickly looked around as he felt his airway closing, looking for sharp rocks as he heard Clouse laugh. Though, instantly, he found a pair of pillar-like rocks with sharp ends, fitting his needs for this plan to work. Alex smiled now as he lifted the sharp pillar rocks and let them float silently and slowly behind Clouse. The man noticed his smile now, and gave a questioning glare.

"Oh, what's got you smiling?" he asked, squinting at Alex.

"Oh, just how easily vulnerable you are too," the master of psion replied, before allowing the sharp rocks to slice Clouse's back open. The man squeaked in surprise as the rocks sliced his back and his lines shattered, allowing Alex to breathe again. He landed on his hands and knees as he coughed, listening to Clouse scream over the loss of his Dark Arts abilities. Alex knew he had destroyed the mark that let Clouse use his abilities.

The master of psion rose to his feet now, more energized than ever before as he approached Clouse. "If I recall right, you asked me who or what I was doing this for earlier, correct?" he asked in a quiet voice, standing before Clouse. The man didn't reply as he still tried to comprehend the loss of his powers. "Well, why don't I tell you already?"

Alex forced Clouse to rise to his feet with his powers, before landing a hard punch in the man's stomach. "This is for every time you nearly turned my organs to mush!"

He then kicked Clouse in the side and knocked him to the ground. "For every time you claimed I was failing you, when in reality you were failing me!"

Alex forced Clouse to stand again as the man tried to throw a punch at him, but Alex caught it. He then twisted Clouse's hand until he heard a snap and the sound of the man screaming. "For every injury you've caused for me and everyone who ever got to know you."

He then punched Clouse in the chest. "For every person whose life you ruined and destroyed with your vile plots!"

Clouse struggled to say something, but he was interrupted by Alex's fist meeting his face again. "This is for every person you've killed!"

He then repeated using his other hand and speaking louder. "This is for the ninja and every year of pain you caused for them!"

And again, switching hands and beginning to shout. "This is for Karma, and your continued efforts to terrorize her and her friends!"

And again, now screaming. "This is for me, and every insult and injury you've given me! For every time I've felt horrible about myself and actually thought I was useless!"

And again, repeatedly switching hands and punching him after every sentence. "And this is for my mother! For every second of pain you put her through! For every dream that she had that you ruined! For every year I lived with my horrid grandmother! For every nightmare my mother's death caused!" Alex screamed, before punching Clouse in the face for one last time, "And this, this for ruining my life!"

He then let Clouse drop to the ground, ignoring the fact this man's nose was bleeding and his blood was on his knuckles. Alex then lifted a hand into the air, allowing to boulders to gather in the sky as he stared down at Clouse. "And this...this is for everyone and everything..." he spoke quietly.

Clouse sniggered, despite his condition. "I thought you said you weren't a killer in your right mind," he recalled, "Your pupils aren't dilated. You haven't manipulated your own brain at all...you won't do it."

Alex didn't show any emotion. "You're right, I'm not one for killing others when I'm in my right mind," he replied, _"but, there are a few exceptions."_

Clouse's eyes widened as Alex turned away and let the boulders fall upon him, the master of psion ignoring his screams to stop as he listened to the sounds of rocks falling. He sighed. "Sorry Clouse, I can't hear you over the sound of my overwhelming failure!"

Once the rocks stopped falling, he searched for the presence of Clouse's mind, but it was no longer there. Alex knew he was dead now, and didn't need to see the gory details to confirm it. He simply walked away from the rocks now, leaving behind Clouse's body. Though, just as he went to leave, he heard rumbling. Immediately, he turned towards the towering rocks above to see that they were falling towards him now.

Instinctively, he instantly went to stop the rocks, but he was too late. They fell upon him, burying him alive live he had done to Clouse. Alex struggled to stay conscious as one rock hit his head, making him dizzy. He hurriedly tried to form his hands into the sign that would allow him to teleport. After a few seconds of ignoring the blood that was running down his face, he instantly teleported to a field of rice near the blacksmith shop.

 _Yeah, that's right, the red one is still dealing with Chen,_ he thought to himself, fighting his dizziness, _I should probably go help him._

He then trudged towards the blacksmith shop as his dizziness faded, still ignoring his injuries as he listened to the sounds of Kai and Chen brawling, with Chen's guards standing back and allowing their boss to have his time to shine. Alex sighed.

 _Okay, this may be too easy._

Kai jumped and dodged every mini missile that Chen's chair shot at him, the master of fire growing tired from dodging every missile. He attempted yet again to set the walking chair on fire, but Chen extinguished his flame in no time with water, causing the master of fire to curse and dodge again.

He continued to run and dodge as he tried to formulate a plan to get to the buttons on Chen's chair, all the while trying to avoid added jabs from his guards. The master of fire noticed how far he'd move every time a missile landed far too close to him, before formulating a final plan. He then smirked and ran in a different direction. Immediately, the missiles began bombarding the ground behind him.

Once the final blast made him fly into the air, he landed on the edge of Chen's chair, stomping on the buttons before jumping away as it began to malfunction. "You little-!" Chen shouted, before sparks began to rain from the malfunctioning throne. It then threw up his famous staff and blew up, leaving behind flames and and Chen's final, panicked shout. His guards' faces were left agape, their leader's death leaving them speechless.

Kai then sighed and walked towards the staff. _Maybe I can hang this up in the shop or something, or donate it to the museum. Chen obviously doesn't need it anymore,_ he thought to himself, reaching for it's dark, teal-colored handle. Though, before he could grab it, it was snatched from his grasp. He instantly looked up, shocked to find Alex standing in front of him, with blood staining his knuckles and shoulder, and running down the side of his face.

Kai then watched as he snapped the staff in half over his knee and threw it aside as if it were a bunch of feeble sticks, leaving the master of fire both angry and surprised. "What the hell do you think you're doing!? How the hell are you alive!?" he shouted. Alex simply looked at him, then turned towards Chen's guards without a word. The master of psion lifted both the guards and their vehicles into the sky before crushing them together and throwing the carnage out of Ignacia, leaving Kai dumbfounded.

"I'm cleaning up," Alex finally replied quietly before walking away. Kai blinked before following him.

"Wait, lemme guess, you're alive for the same reason Chen is?" he guessed, "And, y'know, if you're trying to kill Chen and his men, Clouse went that way."

"Already took care of him," Alex mumbled, before continuing to walk on. Kai blinked once more before following him again, though this time he unsheathed his katana and held it at the master of psion's neck, causing him to stop.

"Hey, answer me," Kai commanded him, "Why are you killing Chen's men and how the hell did you get all beat up like that? You didn't attack one of my friends, did you!?"

"No. Your friends are fine...I hope," Alex replied, confusing Kai, "But the reason as to why I'm killing Chen and his little friends is something personal. It's nothing you should be worried about. In fact, I think I'm doing you a favor."

Kai paused for a moment before removing the blade from his neck and giving a confused stare. "This is...weird. You're not freaking out and being an absolute freak like you usually are, what happened to you?" he asked. Alex was silent for a moment.

He shrugged. "People change," he replied, "Now, you should probably get going."

"What? What do you mean!?" Kai questioned, before he heard the sound of motors growing louder. He turned around to see more of Chen's men driving towards them. Instantly, Kai started running for his bike and grabbed Alex, by the collar of his shirt, dragging him along with him.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Alex shouted as he was dragged along.

"Obviously forming a plan!" Kai replied.

"But what the heck are you dragging me along for!?" Alex questioned.

"Well, if I'm gonna fend off Chen's men, I'm gonna need someone to drive!" Kai told him, before looking back and asking, "You know how to drive, right?"

"N-!" Alex started to answer, but the master of fire interrupted him.

"Fantastic! You'll do fine!"

They then arrived at the motorbike, to which Kai allowed Alex to get on first before he got onto the back and stood up, readying both his powers and his katana. Though, when the bike didn't move he looked down at Alex in an annoyed manner. "Um, we can go now."

"I don't know how to drive," the master of psion replied, to which Kai groaned in disappointment.

"Ugh, why didn't you tell me!?" he questioned, to which Alex looked at him like he was stupid. "Okay, fine. You'll do okay. Let's just go!"

Alex sighed, then nodded, turning on the bike before suddenly making it jerk forward and almost knocking Kai off the back. The master of fire grumbled under his breath until the vehicle actually started moving and he prepared to face Chen's goons. Immediately, he threw a few fireballs at their vehicles, hitting one and watching it crash into a tree.

Kai then crouched down and held onto the back seat of the bike, criticizing Alex's skill at turning despite knowing he didn't really know how to drive. He then stood back up as two of the vehicles drove next to them on each side. Kai instantly went toe to toe with one of the guards, blocking each of his attacks until he knocked the man off the vehicle with his katana. He then threw a fireball at the head of the second guard of the vehicle, allowing it to swerve and crash into the dirt wall next to them.

Alex then took care of the second vehicle by simply forcing it off the cliff of Ignacia with his powers, allowing the bike to swerve for a moment before he took control of it again. Though, immediately, another two vehicles littered with guards sped up to them, one with its front damaged. Kai decided to take advantage of this.

Once the damaged vehicle sped up to him, Kai thrust his sword into the cracking end of the vehicle and cut through it as it sped past them, ordering Alex to swerve over as he pulled his sword back. Kai then ordered him to speed up the bike as they watched the damaged vehicle spin out and crash into the other, causing both to fall over the edge of the cliff. Kai then smirked.

"Huh, for not knowing how to drive you sure are getting the hang of this quickly," he commented.

"Truthfully, I'm using my powers to prevent us from crashing and dying. If I wasn't using them we would have died a long time ago," Alex replied, to which the master of fire laughed nervously.

"Ahaha, well, keep up with that, alright? I'd rather not die," Kai told him, before noticing that there were no more goons. "Aw geez, was that seriously all of them?"

"I think s-" Alex began to reply, before a large tire hit the side of the bike, causing both of them to fall off and roll across the ground. The bike itself hit the dirt wall and exploded, causing Kai to cry out in rage at the destruction of his new motorbike. They both then looked for the culprit, only to find that two of Chen's goons had used a helicopter supplied with tires as ammo.

Alex immediately went to crush it with his powers, but Kai was already ahead of him, as he threw several fireballs at the helicopter out of rage. The helicopter then burst into flames, descending downward into the valley below like the vehicles had, leaving the two elemental masters with the burning bike. They both then got up from the dirt, brushing themselves off.

"That should be all of them," Alex told Kai, before ripping off one of the bandages around his arms and tying it around his injured shoulder. Kai nodded and looked back at the village.

"Good, because we need to go back for Nya," he said, before turning to the master of psion, "Look, I don't trust you, but I'm going to let you come along just this once since you were tearing up Chen's forces. Just know that if you screw up once I'll slice you to pieces."

 _He's really starting to talk like his girlfriend does,_ Alex thought, before nodding. "Okay. Are you going to walk there or should I teleport?"

"Teleporting is probably faster," Kai said. Alex sighed.

"Alright then," he said, before linking arms with the master of fire. Kai then snickered.

"I can't believe you're older than me and have no idea how to drive," he commented. Alex grumbled under his breath.

"Shut up," he hissed, before they teleported to the civilized outskirts of Ignacia, leaving behind the burning vehicles below as the eclipse continued to dimly illuminate the sky, lighting the path for a certain Djinn as he floated towards an occupied bakery. He smirked, then floated forward, knowing he had found her once again.

 **3 / 12**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Outskirts of Ignacia, 9:50 pm**_

Kai and Alex appeared in the deserted outskirts of the south side of Ignacia, the towering rocks giving Alex a reminder of what had occurred only minutes before. "Um, this isn't the right part of Ignacia," Kai notified the master of psion, to which he started to feel nauseous. He sighed and walked over to a rock. "Did you hear me?" Kai asked a little more impatiently this time.

Alex became dizzy for a moment, before suddenly heaving, causing Kai to recoil in disgust. "Ew! Couldn't you have warned me you were going to do that first!?" he exclaimed, trying to not gag himself. Alex sighed and narrowed his eyes at the rock in front of his face. _Haha yeah, like I could totally say "Hey! I'm about to puke!" right when that shit is in my throat,_ he thought sarcastically, before stepping away from the rock.

"How were you even able to do that anyway!? You haven't been alive long enough to digest food or anything!" the master of fire questioned. Alex shrugged.

"Not sure, but since my consciousness remained the same when I came back, perhaps my body became the same way," he theorized, "But it doesn't make sense, because then shouldn't I have a whole ton of wounds right now?"

"Well, you did cut your head..." Kai reminded him, but Alex shook his head.

"No, I should have more stab marks, and technically I should be dying. This doesn't make sense," he explained, before turning around and facing Kai, "If this kept my brain and organ damage, why didn't it keep my wounds from the battle at the Palace?"

Kai blinked, before noticing blood leaking from the master of psion's mouth. "Uh...you're bleeding again. In fact, you've let that cut on your head bleed for quite a while now."

Alex was silent for a moment before wiping his mouth and looking down at the bandage that covered his hand. "Oh, so that's what I puked up," he observed, before Kai made a noise like he was going to get sick. The master of psion then proceeded to wipe the blood off his face with the same bandage around his arm, noting that the cut on his head had been closed by the dry blood. He then sighed.

"Having something like that come up is probably from the damage I have in my organs," Alex explained, before making an angered look, "Remind me when I die again to go kick Clouse's ass in Hell. It'll be payback once again."

"Let me guess, he put you in this condition?" the master of fire asked. Alex nodded.

" _Pravil'no_. He basically subtly tortured me any time I said something he didn't like," he told Kai with a sarcastic smile on his face, "Oh, and you can bet he didn't like a lot of things that came out of my mouth! Freedom of speech, am I right?"

"What exactly did you say that he didn't like?" Kai asked. Alex froze for a minute, his smile disappearing.

"Let me just put it this way," he finally spoke, "I helped the blind see."

He then walked forward, forming his hands until the symbol that allowed him to teleport as Kai stood there, entirely bewildered. "Now, we should get to your sister. There's no telling what's happening to her," he told Kai, to which the master of fire nodded and joined him. They then disappeared, leaving behind the towering rocks.

 _ **Meanwhile, at the Bakery of Ignacia**_

"Thank you so much for letting me stop by on short notice, Mr. Cho! You're too nice," Nya said, her crimson lips turning up into a gratuitous smile. The bespectacled old man behind the counter only nodded with the same friendly look he had always maintained.

"There's no such thing as 'too nice', Nya. In fact, I'd say this world needs the extra niceness," Mr. Cho replied, twirling his white, handlebar mustache, "but I'd be happy to help you kids anytime. Tell your brother I said 'Hi', alright?"

"Will do!" the master of water replied before picking up her bag of warm, holiday pastries, "Thank you again, Mr. Cho! Have a good night!"

"You too, dear! Take care on your way home!" the old man smiled and waved as she exited his shop. Nya then went to stop and admire the lanterns outside his shop for a moment before she noticed that they were an eerie green. Confused for a moment, she decided to pass it off as a decorating error. _Mr. Cho's always had mistakes here and there in his decorations. Nothing to be too concerned about_ , she told herself before stepping off the concrete steps that led to the bakery door.

Though, she then heard the sound of tin trash cans falling over on the side of the building, startling her for a moment as she felt herself impulsively reaching for the hilt of her katana _. I really should calm down. For all I know it could be the local stray cat, Buu. Don't want to be pulling a weapon on a friendly kitty, right?_

She sighed and continued on, now wondering what her brother was up to. _He's probably patiently waiting and texting his friends. After all, social media is what keeps him patient during times like this. Though, I don't understand what's so entertaining about sending videos of a love song from the 80s to people. What kind of joke is that?_

Nya froze this time as she heard more trash cans fall over, as if a being larger than a small cat had knocked them over. She immediately pulled her katana from her sheath as she turned around, becoming paralyzed with shock upon laying eyes on a familiar figure. His orange skin shone in the dim light of lamps that lit the doorways of shops, yet the cloudy aura of where his legs should have been lit the area beneath him. His scurvy-infected teeth shined just like his skin and were curved into a smirk as he crossed his two pairs of muscular arms, his yellow eyes falling upon her now.

"Good evening, _Delara_. We haven't seen each other in a while, have we?" Nadakhan greeted her in his usual, honeyed voice. Nya stepped back, rage churning inside her like an angry sea as she stared at him.

"Nadakhan..." she recalled his name, and the poisonous tone to it. The Djinn smiled.

"Ah, fantastic. You remember me," he smiled, his gold earrings glittering in the moonlight.

"Why wouldn't I!? You terrorized me and my friends just because I look like your poor dead wife!" Nya shouted, her anger slipping into her voice, "Why aren't you in the sword!? Who let you out!?"

The pirate shrugged, his eyes clearly telling her he knew who did it. "Hmm. Not sure. An anonymous man perhaps."

Nya paused for a moment, before lunging at Nadakhan, her katana drawn. Though, he blocked her attack with his cutlass before blocking several more of her slashes as she withdrew her second katana from its sheath. "Now now, what's with this sudden hostility, _Delara?_ I haven't said anything to threaten you," Nadakhan questioned, to which the master of water's face became much more angered.

"Oh, so you think you can just get off scottfree from forcing me to marry you and threatening to kill my girlfriend and friends!?" Nya shouted, her slashes becoming harder, "Well, I've got news for you, pal! Not gonna happen! If the universe isn't going to punish your ass, then I will!"

Nya's slashes then intensified as she avoided the Djinn's blade, nicking his fingers that held his blade. Nadakhan cringed, but he continued to keep up with her slashes, even when she used the walls of buildings as leverage to attack him from another side. Though, a sinister grin grew on his face as she noticed the treats in the bag hanging from her shoulder. "Oh, but do you know I'm not the only one who's returned? In fact, your dear brother should be getting visitors any time now."

Nya froze up slightly, worry for Kai increasing instantly. "My brother? Wait...what did you do!?" she asked, before she was met with slashes and punches from Nadakhan. He managed to hit her several times in the stomach and face before his blade missed and slashed her cheek instead of her chest. The master of water gasped and fell to the ground, her stomach now aching as she tried to get up. Blood now began to leak from the cut on her cheek.

"You know, now that I've started to think about it, you don't really look as much like yourself as you used to, _Delara_ ," Nadakhan spoke as he approached her, "You're much too stubborn, and your midsection no longer holds the curvy shape I once knew. In fact, it's grown larger. Have you been eating too much? It's not too much of an issue though, you could simply wish for the ideal figure, correct?"

Nya glared at him as the rage inside her boiled like water in a pot over an extremely hot fire. She began to feel her power surging in her veins like angry waves daring to spout from her hands. She knew she was above Nadakhan and she knew she already loved her image, but her want to put Nadakhan in his place was still strong, so she rose to her feet. "Perhaps if you had spoke to an earlier me you may have gotten what you wanted, but the past is the past," she whispered, before her glare fell upon the Djinn, raising her voice, "I don't need your idiotic, vain comments! I don't need your critique! I don't need you to tell me what shape I should value, because I'm perfectly fine with who I am!"

She huffed before going on and stomping towards Nadakhan. "There is no perfect shape, nor is there a woman who would bow to your disgusting comments! I'm fantastic just the way I am, and you can't tell me otherwise! My weight and shape doesn't limit me! I can still kick your creepy ass with just my pinky finger!" she shouted, before blocking one of Nadakhan's slashes with ease. The power continued to surge within her veins. "I'm not sure how Delara was, but she must have been drugged to ever consider being with you, a creature who only values a woman for her body and completely disregards the need for consent! Who completely disregards her availability and orientation! You remind me so much of those street rats who come uninvited into your home and eat your food!"

She blocked another slash and nicked his fingers yet again. "But that's enough of my rambling, it's obvious you won't listen and will only value your own erroneous views. It's obvious you'll continue to be a piece out of the large pile of rotting garbage of the world," she spoke, before large waves spouted from her hands. The Djinn was easily swept up by the rapid waves, before Nya forced the water to toss him into the air. She then formed steps with the water and walked up them without difficulty, as if she were walking upon a solid instead of a liquid.

There was a blue glint to her light brown eyes now as she neared Nadakhan, who was falling, her powers now bursting inside her like they were when she had reached her True Potential. She then jumped, landing an axe kick on Nadakhan's face before flipping and landing on a wall. She then jumped again and repeated it all, though this time she changed her attacks each time, either slashing the Djinn or physically hitting him. She then made the water throw him into the air again as he stared, aghast.

Nya jumped towards him then, her katanas readied for the final blow. Nadakhan held his hands out, his poisonous yellow eyes wide. "Wait! _Delara!_ Have some compassion! Some sympathy!" he pleaded as blood oozed from cuts all over his body. Nya was not phased. Instead, she started to recall memories. Memories of everything he almost destroyed of hers. How he almost destroyed her relationship with Ashley. How he had almost killed Jay. How he had almost killed everyone.

"I have no sympathy, nor compassion," she replied, before raising her blades above Nadakhan, "And my name is not _Delara!_ It's Nya freakin' Liu! The woman who singlehandedly destroyed you!"

She then brought her blades down on him, slicing through his armor and cutting him in half. Nya turned away as a pale green smoke figure escaped into the sky, allowing his disintegrating body to fall to the ground. Her rage began to fade as her waves disappeared, and the glow dimmed and disappeared from her eyes. The master of water then landed gracefully on her feet, her bag of holiday pastries still secured on her shoulder. To her luck, none of the pastries had been squashed in the brawl.

"Better hurry up and see if Kai's okay. There's no telling if Nadakhan's words were true or not," she said to herself, before jogging down the dirt path away from Mr. Cho's bakery. Though, as she did so, she heard rustling again from the alleyway like she had once before. She turned around this time, ready for whatever horrible thing that would come crawling out of the alley next. Though, what she didn't expect was to see her brother and a redheaded individual to run out into the open, before they both tripped over each other's feet and fell on the ground.

"Come on, hurry up! She's gotta be here somewhere!" Kai urged the other person, pulling them up with him before he stopped in his tracks as he heard his sister's voice.

"Kai? What are you doing here?"

The master of fire turned around. "Nya?"

The person that had been with him then turned around, his blue eyes causing to regain her angered feelings. "Oh, looks like she was in a fight," Alex observed, before Nya ran up and punched him in the stomach, unexpectedly. The master of psion coughed, then fell on the ground, clutching his stomach. "I probably should have expected that..." he croaked.

Nya then turned to her brother. "What the hell is he doing here!?" she questioned him, pointing at Alex.

"That's not important right now! I just want to know what happened to you!" Kai replied, to which Alex mumbled sarcastically, "Thanks, I'm doing just fine."

Nya sighed. "I ran into Nadakhan, okay? I took him out, he was no big deal. Don't worry about it," she told her brother, "Now, will you tell me why _he's_ here!?"

"Aw man, you already got rid of Nadadingus!? I was gearing up so much for a fight with him!" Alex replied in a disappointed tone, before gagging and covering his mouth. Kai sighed and looked away as the master of psion threw up blood a second time.

"He basically helped me get rid of Chen and Clouse, who attacked me. And he sort of gave me a lowdown on what's going on, so I guess he's helping us?" the master of fire replied. Nya squinted at her brother.

"But how do you know we can trust him? For all we know he could be killing the other villains just so he won't have any competition when it comes to killing us!" she replied. Kai sighed and looked over at the master of psion, who was wiping his mouth with a bandage.

"Does it really look like he's in the shape to take us all on, Nya? I actually don't know how much blood he's lost," the master of fire told his sister, "Besides, he was always easy to take on anyways. When have we ever had difficulty with taking him down?"

Nya paused for a moment, contemplating her brother's decision before sighing. "Fine, but that doesn't mean I fully trust him. He screws up once and I'll take him down!"

"You're basically preaching to the choir there Maya _,_ " Alex added, not phased by anything she said. The master of water squinted at him.

"It's _Nya_."

"Sorry, I'm bad with names," he said, before standing up and brushing the dirt off of himself, "It's why I give all of you ninja nicknames."

"Ooh! What nickname did you give Jay!? I gotta know!" Kai inquired, a devilish smile on his face.

"The one with lightning, right?" Alex asked, before going on, "Well, it used to be 'Soulstealer', but I guess it's 'Patchy' now."

Kai then snorted, before chuckling. " 'Patchy'. It's perfect."

"Could you get serious? Our friends could possibly be in danger, since you're saying you two faced off against Clouse and Chen, and the pure fact that Alex is standing here before us! What if other baddies are running about and threatening our team!?" Nya raised her voice, calling back her brother's attention.

"You're not wrong. In fact, all the villains in the exhibit were resurrected. Though, the Overlord was destroyed by some snake creature who hid in the back. I assumed he was an Anacondrai," Alex intervened. Nya and Kai looked at each other for a moment before nodding.

"Pythor?"

"Definitely Pythor."

"I did kind of run into Karma and the blonde girl too before I left the museum. Last I recall, they said they were going to go look for your ghost friend, then return to the museum. Maybe they're there," Alex told them, to which the siblings thought it over for a moment before nodding.

"Okay, we'll go there then," Kai said, before nodding at the master of psion to form the teleportation symbol with his hands. Kai then took his arm, to which Nya gave a questioning glance.

"I have to touch him in order for me to go with you two through teleportation?" she asked, looking uncomfortable. Alex sighed.

"Yes. In order for someone or something to go with me they have to be in contact with me in some way. You don't really have to do what your brother's doing anyway, you could just poke my shoulder or...well...my arm instead since that shoulder's injured. It's not like I'm asking you to hold my hand or anything," he replied, "Besides, I'm just uncomfortable with this as you are. I had to transport Karma and Clouse like this too."

Nya paused for a moment, then gave an exasperated sigh. "Fine," she huffed, before poking his shoulder. Alex cringed from pain in his shoulder, then connected his hands, allowing all of them to disappear from the dirt path at once, leaving behind only shoe smudges in the dirt and the dust of Nadakhan's mannequin body.

 _ **The Corridor of Elders, 10:00pm**_

"Thanks for letting me come along with you guys, Misako. I mean, I really could have stayed back at the Royal Blacksmiths main stage," Cass thanked the old woman as they walked past the large, stone statue of Lloyd's deceased father. Misako only smiled.

"We would have rather you got to celebrate the holiday away from the crowds. Though, I wish I could have persuaded the brothers to do the same," she told the girl, before stopping before Sensei Garmadon's statue. Cass looked down at her lantern with a gentle expression.

"I think they just wanted to do things their own way, you know. It's what they've always done," she replied, "Besides, I don't think Nathan will leave Sammie's side until Cole comes back from whereever he's gone."

Cass felt herself frown as she recalled Cole's disappearance, wondering if he had gone off alone to celebrate or got lost in the many halls of the museum. What she feared the most was if he had drifted away again, and was more than likely scared and searching everywhere for her and the team _. I hope he's okay,_ she thought to herself, _Hopefully we find him before the night is over. My worry is growing with every minute that passes without an answer._

Lloyd put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It'll be alright, Cass. Cole's brave, even though he doesn't show it often. I have faith that he'll return before this is all over. I doubt he'd ever want to miss his father's performance."

Cass nodded, a sad smile on her face. "Yeah, you're right. I just wish I knew what happened to him though," she told Lloyd. Much like most events in her life, she was left without an answer as to where Cole had gone, and it had left her anxious, even now as Lloyd reassured her.

"I do too, but unfortunately we'll just have to wait. It's all we can do," the Green Ninja replied, to which Cass nodded again. She knew that was all that could be done. Cole was a ghost after all. If he had turned invisible for a long period of time again, it wouldn't be long before he reverts back. Though what she feared most was if he had met any form of water.

Lloyd then turned away and joined his mother as they lit the lantern for his father, the two joining hands as the lantern rested within both of their palms. Cass turned away then and focused on her own, which was already lit. She listened to Lloyd and Misako murmur about Sensei Wu and Garmadon as she stared at her own lantern, recalling those she had lost in her family. Though, before she could get lost in memories of the past, she watched as her lantern became a ghastly green, causing the master of wind to become startled and drop it.

Lloyd and Misako looked over immediately, before witnessing that their lantern, which was floating into the sky, became the same exact color. They both blinked in confusion. "Is...is it supposed to do that?" Lloyd asked, his mismatched eyes growing wide in surprise. His mother shook her head.

"No, red is the official color of the holiday," Misako reminded him, before pushing up her glasses and squinting, "Something's not right."

Cass started to feel nervous, and could admit that she was beginning to feel wrong too. Something in the air left her feeling uneasy, and something felt wrong in the gentle breeze that made her wavy hair dance. She could sense a dark energy growing closer, and fast.

The master of wind turned around quickly to face the direction of where the energy was coming from, only to spot a floating figure levitating towards them at a medium pace several feet away. The nearly transparent figure's chin-length pitch black hair waved in the wind like dark hands reaching for the moon, with one distinct emerald green streak rising from the mass of black hair with every blow of the breeze. The figure's skin was a sickly green, with the skin being darker around his eyes. The figure's eyes were dead, yet filled with a fearsome energy as his neon green irises were fixated on Lloyd, with the whites of his eyes being darker than the midnight sky.

Cass and Lloyd both took a step back as they recognized this levitating ghost man, not needing the distinct dragon medallion that hung to the left of his chest to tell them who he was. Though, despite how old he should have been, this man was forever trapped in the state of his body at death, leaving him young forever. He scowled as he grew closer to the trio.

"Morro..." Lloyd spoke, staring in both surprise and horror. Cass only looked shocked, appalled that her dead uncle was here before her.

"Uncle.." she whispered as he came to a stop before them, looking angered.

"Where is Wu?" he asked. Misako and Lloyd's faces started to fall.

"How are you alive!? You should be gone!" Cass shouted. Morro's cold eyes looked in his niece's direction for a moment before flicking back to the Garmadon family. He held a gloved hand up.

"I don't have time for this or your inquiries," the ghost grumbled, before sending a strong gust of wind at her. Immediately, Cass countered his gust with her own, pushing back his own and causing Morro to step back, appalled. He blinked.

"How...how did you gain that power!? I'm the only one who should be able to do that!" he asked in an angered voice. Cass's eyes narrowed.

"What do you think your sister did while you were off in the Cursed Realm?" she replied. Morro blinked once again, then scratched his transparent chin.

"Well, I'd assume both of my siblings would wait for me to come back!" he replied, "but I assume they've moved on and have made families."

"Bingo," Cass chimed.

"But this doesn't make sense! You look far too old to be Aria's kid!" Morro argued. The female master of wind continued to sigh.

"About twenty years have passed since you died, Uncle. I was born around that same time, so quite honestly I think you're just confused because you didn't stay in touch with your sister," she explained. Morro went to say something, but shut his mouth, now looking ashamed.

"Would this mean that my brother has a child too?" he questioned.

Cass nodded. "Yes, my two cousins. One carries your power. So, yet again, counting you, there's a trio of masters of wind," she informed him, "But I don't know if your siblings or your nephews even want to see you continuing what you've done."

Morro frowned, then glanced at Lloyd, who looked terrified and was gripping his mother's shoulder. He then sighed and looked back at his niece, guilt in his haunting eyes. "They have a right to not want to see me. I almost killed this world after all."

"Though, with no ill intention, I'd like to know where Sensei Wu is. I'd like to take up his offer on being his student again, even if this eclipse is only granting me a few hours of life," he went on, only to be met with downcast faces. Cass looked to Misako, and Misako looked to her, both frowning before the old woman turned to the ghost before her.

"He has...passed. It's been a year," she informed him, to which Morro stared in shock.

"No...that can't be. Then where's Aria!? Loannes...I mean John!? Surely they're still around!" he replied, beginning to sound distraught. Misako continued to frown.

"Unfortunately, they are dead too, and in a horrible way much like your Sensei. I can't count how long it's been, but I apologize," she informed him. The ghost's expression became shocked once again, before his face twisted in a raged look. He then solidified his arm and punched one of the nearby boulders, crying out in grief. He continued to do this several times, before huffing and turning towards the trio.

"Tell me, what happened? What did this to them!? _Who_ did this to them!? Who or what is responsible for this!?" Morro shouted, his disheveled hair falling over his face. Cass and Misako's eyes seemed to be free of answers, but the look in Lloyd's mismatched eyes revealed that he knew, and Morro levitated closer to him, causing the boy to tremble. "You know, don't you?" the ghost asked in a quieter voice.

Lloyd gulped, then proceeded to answer. "Yes. There's suspects..."

"My mother's death and the death of Hunter and Nathan's parents are a result of the Tien Daw's chaos of course, and they're long dead, but what about Wu's death? It did happen while Karma was being an idiot. You don't think...especially since she broke Sammie's bones so cruelly?" Cass theorized. Lloyd shook his head.

"No. She'd never do anything like that. I'm betting that it was either Alex or Clouse, though, I believe it was more than likely Clouse," he rubbed his chin, "Given how maliciously he fought me, he seemed like the kind of guy to murder someone in cold blood."

"Yeah, but Alex has murdered people! How would it more than likely be Clouse? I mean, this red-haired idiot seems more like a murderer than Karma's lousy uncle," Cass argued, "Though, if you ask me, both of them are horrible."

"I know, but to be honest, Clouse seems more likely to do it, and if you ask me, Alex seemed to cower away from Clouse that day at the Palace. There's a high chance Clouse could have done it," Lloyd replied. Morro huffed.

"Enough of this arguing! Were these imbeciles in that hall at the museum!?" he questioned, sounding impatient and frustrated. The trio assumed that this is where he had come from.

"Yes. They were," Misako confirmed. Morro's expression then angered, and he turned away from the trio.

"I'm going back to the museum and looking for those assholes. If any of you want to join me, feel free to, since I believe our feelings are mutual on these two people," Morro told them, before levitating away at a higher speed than before. Cass looked over at the Garmadon family before running after her uncle, with the Garmadons soon following, their lantern still floating into the illuminated night sky.

Though, as each hour passed, more lanterns grew green, and a distressed father waited anxiously for his son's return, his daughter feeling the same, though she was being comforted by her lover. As the time to showtime draws nearer, the father hopes and prays his son will return in time, hoping nothing horrible had happened to his ghostly son. Though, he was blind to an oncoming threat in the city, a threat that was familiar, and was like an old nightmare reawakened.

A couple stood on the empty street near the Day of the Departed festival, their scheming faces illuminated by the nearby ghastly green lantern. The woman with lavender hair stepped forward, her curled ponytail resting on her shoulder as she smirked, staring at the festival and its happy guests.

"Well, get ready Ninjago, because we're about to have the biggest 'Welcome Home' party of the century."

 **4/12**


	4. Chapter 4

_**The Festival Venue, 10:40pm**_

"God, how can these guys keep up!?" Nathan exclaimed as he avoided a slash from the red-haired man he had come to know as Sebastian. Only minutes earlier had he and Sammie responded to cries of distress in the crowd, only minutes before The Royal Blacksmiths' performance. It was then that they had found former enemies of the ninja, Misaki and Sebastian, causing chaos.

"Well, a reminder that we've never fought them before. They're a group that they fought before we came about!" Sammie replied, kicking Misaki away. The lavender-haired woman then cartwheeled away before locking her eyes on Nathan. A smirk then appeared on her face.

"Well, well, let's see what makes him tick," she mumbled to herself, before darting towards the master of water. Sammie went after her in an instant, whilst keeping an eye on Sebastian and Nathan's fight. Though, when she turned back to Misaki, she noticed the woman was yelling to get Nathan's attention. "Hey! Kid! Your little girlfriend's about to die!"

Nathan looked over immediately in alarm, accidentally making the mistake of locking eyes with Misaki. His eyes then went wide, before he began to tremble. Though, in an instant, Sammie blinded Misaki with a beam of light, breaking Nathan free from the trance. Sammie then proceeded to slash through the woman with her kama, turning the master of illusion into dust. The two ninja then turned to Sebastian, who had armed himself with two pipe pieces he had found.

Nathan took a step towards the man, before Sammie stopped him. "Wait, if I recall right, Lilly said he had some sort of power too. We'll need to be careful," she warned her beloved, to which Sebastian gave an exasperated sigh. Nathan and Sammie noticed that he didn't even show a hint of anger or grief towards Misaki's death.

"Well, your friend is wrong. I don't have any powers right now...since _he_ isn't here!" the man grumbled, before looking around for someone or something. Nathan and Sammie then looked at each other in confusion, before darting towards Sebastian and taking him head-on. Ignoring his testimony of why he didn't have powers, the two took him down with ease, turning him into dust like they had Misaki. Though, they didn't understand why exactly they were turning into dust.

"I don't see how they had difficulty with these guys," Nathan commented, brushing dust off his sais. Sammie shrugged.

"Well, they did say they _were_ accompanied by more people back when they were relevant," the master of light replied, "but what doesn't make sense here is why exactly they were alive and breathing a few seconds ago."

"Um, Hunter did say that he's heading back to the museum for a moment. Maybe we can go ask him. He knows everything anyways...most of the time," Nathan suggested, to which Sammie nodded and smiled.

"Alright. Good idea. We should keep our eyes open though. I heard one of Dad's bandmates talking about how he had seen a towering, tattooed fighter earlier," Sammie told him, before they headed towards the museum, avoiding some of the toppled and destroyed decorations.

 _ **The Museum, 10:45pm**_

Kai and Nya sat patiently at the museum, munching on their holiday pastries while they waited for their friends. After being teleported here by Alex, they had happened to lose track of his whereabouts after five minutes. Though, Kai assumed he had went elsewhere in case he got sick, as the master of fire had threatened to roast him if he had dared to throw up in front of him again. They didn't really care anyways. They were more worried about their friends' safety.

After a few minutes, the siblings were surprised to find that all their friends were running up to them at once, confused and distressed looks on their faces. In an instant, the group had become noisy with accounts of sightings of supposed-to-be-dead enemies.

"While I was talking to that loser Dareth, some stone warrior came up and started screaming at me! I didn't even know who he was!"

"Karma and I ran into some prissy, bleached snake-person who kept asking for Lloyd!"

"I swear to god I saw Samukai and killed him!"

"And I am positive that I fought Cryptor...and he called me 'Father'. I did not know Cyrus programmed something like _that_ into him."

"And we saw those dinguses that came about when Karma joined!"

"And I'm pretty sure I may have accidentally left Cole at the gas station in the desert!"

"Woah, woah guys. Calm down," Lloyd spoke up, holding up his hands, to which silence fell upon the group. "Okay, so we all have seen some old baddies that were supposed to be dead. It's odd, but I got an anonymous tip that this eclipse brought their mannequins to life."

"Don't forget the fact that Yang's all behind this," Morro spoke up, to which everyone unaware of his return pointed their weapons at him.

"What the hell is he doing here!?" Kai exclaimed, to which Lloyd stepped in front of his former tormentor.

"Hey, calm down. He's helping us out, mostly just to look for whoever killed Sensei," the green ninja told him, to which from the corner of his eye he noticed Karma flinch. He questioned if she knew anything about what happened. Though, the team withdrew their weapons, trusting Lloyd's words.

"Alright, if you say so," Lilly obliged, looking at Morro with lasting distrust.

"Oh hey, you guys got the whole crew back together for the most part," they then heard Alex butt in, seeming to appear out of nowhere from behind the Liu siblings. Immediately, everyone unaware of his return pulled their weapons on him, the blades only inches from his face. Karma immediately came to his defense, holding her hands up.

"Alright guys, he's the same case as Morro. He's helping us out too...as crazy as it sounds," the master of darkness explained, "Actually, just to add to that crazy even more, he's the one who helped Lloyd and I take down Cl...Clouse."

As the others withdrew their weapons, Lilly noticed her stutter on the name of her uncle, her eyebrows knotted in worry. She already knew that Clouse still had to be out there, looking for his niece. "I'm not sure how I feel with two assholes supposedly 'helping us'," Jay spoke up, to which Nya sighed.

"I dunno Jay. We kept you and my brother, so I guess we can manage four more," she responded, to which the master of lightning and Kai gave offended looks. Lloyd then stepped forward.

"Hold on, let me keep track of something here," he said, "So, from what I heard, so far Karma & Lilly defeated Pythor, Hunter defeated Kozu, Jay defeated Samukai, Zane defeated Cryptor, Sammie & Nathan defeated Misaki & Sebastian, Kai defeated Chen, Nya defeated Nadakhan, and then the Overlord was destroyed in the museum, and now Morro and Alex are here. That just leaves...Clouse."

Karma's eyes went wide, before she frowned and looked at the ground. She already knew that her uncle was after her, and could appear at any moment. After all, she was the only true family he had, since Clouse never liked to speak to her father or her other uncle. She could already feel her heart racing in fear at the thought of fighting her uncle again. She didn't know if she could take it.

"No, he's been defeated too," Alex spoke up then, stepping forward. The others gave confused looks as Kai nodded.

"Wait, how do you know?" Cass asked with a skeptical look.

"Because I'm the one who took him out," Alex informed them, "You don't think I got these cuts and stuff from nothing, do you?"

"I'm having a hard time believing you actually took this dingus on by yourself," Jay spoke up, squinting at him.

"And I'm having a hard time believing that you actually somehow managed to have a girlfriend for longer than a day with your attitude, but that's none of my business," Alex retorted, unphased, "but what's so unbelievable? You guys know me. You know I'm all about revenge on people who screw with me, so that greaseball had it coming. It's not like I was doing it for other people or anything."

Karma narrowed her eyes as she saw a glow appear in his eyes for the last portion of his statement. She then grabbed Alex by the shoulders, and shook him, shouting "How stupid are you!? Why didn't you tell me you were going after him!? You could have gotten yourself killed! Then I'd have to drag your spirit out of the Cursed Realm and kick your ass for dying a second time!"

"To be fair, I'm already technically dead, so really I don't think it'd be a shock if I got defeated by your uncle," Alex replied.

"I don't care! I'll kick your ass regardless!" Karma continued to shout. Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Then what are you going to do when the eclipse ends and Yang's curse allowing me to be here wears off?" the master of psion questioned, crossing his arms. Karma frowned.

"Kick your ass for dying the first time of course! You're not exempt from these ass-kickings just because you're standing here before me!" she answered. She then turned to her teammates. "That goes for you guys too! Any of you die, I'll kick you into next month!"

"Got it," Nathan acknowledged, not daring to challenge Karma's statement.

"Well, look, I didn't tell you at first because I didn't want you to freak out, alright? Besides, I didn't think you'd want to face your uncle for a second time, with all he's done to you, so I went out and took care of him before he could do anything," Alex explained. Karma then paused for a moment, before gently punching the master of psion in the arm.

"You're such an idiot," the master of darkness mumbled, hints of gratitude in her voice.

"So, anyways, do any of you have any idea at all who killed Wu then? Lloyd mentioned a couple suspects, but from what I'm hearing, one of these suspects is dead," Morro spoke up then, floating forward. Karma flinched yet again, but a guilty look appeared on Alex's face.

"Then let me come clean about something," the master of psion told the ghost, before hesitating, then saying, "I'm the one who killed Wu."

"I had a feeling," Lilly commented, glaring at the master of psion. Though, before Alex could explain why he had done it further, Morro solidified his hand and grabbed him by the throat, proceeding to slam him into the wall of the museum as hard as he could, causing some of the bricks to crack and cave from the impact. Alex gasped for air as the ghost's hand tightened around his throat, Morro's hauntingly raged eyes locked on the young man.

"I appreciate your honesty, but I will not excuse the fact that you killed the man who raised me," the former master of wind growled, baring his teeth at Alex like a snarling animal, "So why don't I give you the same treatment you gave him, huh!?"

"Morro, chill out! It's not what you think! Both of us have some explaining to do!" Karma spoke up, to which Morro fixed his angered gaze on her. He then dropped Alex and began to approach her, his form beginning to tower over her.

" 'Both' of you, huh? So was it a team act then? You two probably even thought you could get away with it too, thinking I'd never return huh!?" Morro raised his voice as he levitated closer to her. Karma didn't move though, she only simply continued to stare at him, a courageous look on her face.

"It's not like that-" she began to say again, before Morro interrupted her.

"That's what they all say!" he screamed, reaching for her throat. Lloyd then stepped in, dragging Nathan with him and pointing the boy's hand at the ghost.

"Do it and Nathan puts you back to sleep," the master of energy threatened, staring his former tormentor straight in the face. Morro huffed for a moment, before moving away from her and returning his gaze to Alex, who was still on his hands and knees from being let go, coughing. The ghost then levitated over to him and forced him to his feet.

"Explain. Now." he ordered the master of psion, to which the master of psion immediately began to speak.

"I was forced to do it as a form of torture by Clouse. I'm sure if you're from the Serpentine Wars times you may have at least heard of him," Alex spoke, to which Morro nodded.

"Wu often spoke of how he had a rivalry with his brother," the ghost informed him, "but I don't understand. If you're around these people, you must at least have powers, right? I'd assume you have telekinesis, since you look like the former master of it. Couldn't you have fought back!?"

Alex sighed, "Yes, I'm the son of the former master of psion. I couldn't fight back though because my energy capacity isn't as high as everyone else's, and I was literally running on empty the moment he forced me to do it. Besides, during that time, he was in possession of a stolen piece of my powers, so he could have killed me in a snap if he wanted to. I couldn't fight back because, without my powers, he could have snapped me like a twig with ease."

Morro paused, then turned to Karma. "And you...you said you had some explaining to do too?"

The master of darkness nodded. "Yes," she said, before proceeding to explain, "You see, Clouse is a...family member of mine, so at the time I was sort of living with him. He had captured Wu from my friends here as a sort of surprise here, and decided that Alex would be the one to kill Wu, since my uncle is under the impression that he doesn't do anything. With us both fearing my uncle, there was nothing we could do but obey,"

"But, I'm the one who could have done something. I still had my energy levels and powers intact," she went on further, "I could have stepped in and stopped my uncle, but I was too scared. I was too afraid of what he would do to me, whether it be him spitting out harsh words or actually physically hurting me. I couldn't budge myself to do anything. I'm...I'm sorry."

Morro was silent for a moment, before sighing and looking away from the both of them. "So, you're both saying Clouse planned it?"

"Yeah. He basically planned the deaths of every former elemental master as well, and had mostly succeeded," Alex added, "Though, I couldn't tell you who he had killed. There was only so much I could pick up from his mind."

Morro frowned, then sighed yet again, looking towards the eclipsed moon. "There was always something off about that lousy rat."

"He's dead now though. We shouldn't worry about him. We need to worry about finding Cole and stopping Yang, and we can't really do that by just standing here and staring at the moon," Kai reminded them, to which Hunter nodded.

"Right," he said, before scratching his head, "Uh...you guys _did_ bring the Bounty, right?"

"Yes. It should be parked nearby," Misako spoke up. Everyone had honestly forgotten that she was here.

Lloyd nodded then. "Alright, let's go!"

As everyone rushed to the Bounty, Morro hesitated, causing Cass to skid to a stop. She gave her uncle a worried look. "Are you coming too?"

The ghost paused, then nodded. "Yes, this is just unusual for me," he replied, before looking towards the ship, "but I figure this is the only time I'll ever get to be around the family I didn't get to know. Besides, those boys in orange and light blue...they're your cousins, aren't they?"

Cass nodded. "Hunter and Nathan? They're your nephews."

Morro then nodded. "Yeah. They really do look like John," he said, staring at his nephews before he decided to follow his niece to the ship, leaving behind the cracks in the museum wall.

 _ **Five minutes later**_

Nya steered the Bounty out of the city with Misako directing her as the rest of the members of the team waited on the deck, watching as the tall buildings began to disappear from their view. Sammie leaned on one of the railings as the ambient, nocturnal desert winds tossed her hair gently, concerns for her brother's safety occupying her mind. This, of course, wasn't the first time she had to continue on with holiday festivities without him, but it still hurt her as much as it always did during the times he was just becoming a ninja. It hurt just as much as her mother's absence.

"Hey, is everything going alright?" she heard a voice ask her then, before she turned around to find Lilly behind her with a concerned look, "I know your brother's gone and all, but it looks like it's really tearing you up."

Sammie sighed. "I'm fine. It's just...going on for so long without any clues as to whether he's dead or alive is really leaving me worried."

Lilly then leaned against the railing. "I understand how you feel. Having someone like that in your life suddenly disappear without an explanation is horrible," she replied, "but Cole's brave, and tough. I have faith that he's doing well."

"I know, and I do too, but everything's been happening so unexpectedly, what if we get sidetracked? What if he gets sidetracked?" Sammie wondered, to which Lilly put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, he'll be okay. Trust me," she assured the master of light, "Even if the unexpected happens, he'll be able to deal with it. He's always been able to."

Sammie smiled slightly. "Yeah, you're right," she said, "I just wish I could get answers sooner."

"I know," Lilly replied, "but unfortunately, all we can do for now is wait for answers."

Sammie then nodded, before they turned to look at their friends, who sat on the deck and waited for any sightings of Yang's Temple. Morro seemed to be speaking to Hunter and Nathan, with a slightly awkward expression on his face as Cass watched. Kai was helping Jay keep watch on the upper decks. Karma sat on Zane's shoulder's attempting to help as well as Alex watched, looking confused. Sammie and Lilly then walked over to join their friends, but once they neared the masters of wind, the sound of a thunderclap filled the air.

"What was that!?" Jay asked, before another thunderclap from seemingly nowhere rocked the ship, taking out the lights of the ship for a few moments before they flickered back on. They then saw a mass of cloth laying on the deck now, causing Karma to crawl down from Zane's shoulders.

"What is that thing?" she asked, taking a step towards it before the mass shifted. It then started to rise, dropping little droplets of a crimson substance onto the wooden floor of the deck. It then started to form into a figure as it rose, until it kept its head bowed. The team looked on in confusion and shock as it stood there, before the figure slowly raised its head, allowing the light the eclipse was emitting to reveal their face.

Karma froze immediately once she saw his face, her usually lively brown eyes becoming filled with terror in an instant. She then stepped back as everyone looked on in disbelief, the deck becoming more silent than it had ever been.

The figure brushed his greasy, black hair away from his face, ignoring the bleeding cuts that littered his face. He gave a sinister smile as his venomous purple eyes fell on his niece. "Good evening, Seiko," Clouse greeted her in a honeyed voice, "What wonderful weather for such a great holiday, huh?"

"H-How!? You're supposed to be dead!" Cass shouted, staring in disbelief. Clouse snickered.

"No. I just think _someone_ here miscalculated what I could survive," he spoke, glancing at Alex for a minute before looking back at his niece. Karma then proceeded to slowly back away, trembling as she shook her head.

"God damn it Alex! You forgot to double tap!" Hunter shouted, to which he was ignored by Clouse.

"But anyways, I'm only here for a certain few. Though, I'd like to speak to one person at a time," the man said, before beginning to walk towards Karma. Though, before he could take any further steps, one of Lilly's katanas flew from its sheath and into Alex's hand, to which he used to slash at Clouse. The man then took a step back, glaring at the master of psion.

"Well, Orange, if I'm gonna 'double tap' it might as well be now!" he replied. Clouse then raised an eyebrow, smiling.

"Oh? You think you can finish me off all by yourself, don't you?" the man asked in a condescending tone. Intricate, black lines then appeared under his eyes, causing Alex to freeze in shock. Clouse only continued to smile. "I don't die as easily as you think, boy."

A line then jutted out of the ground and threw Alex through the large window that served as a windshield for the control room, shattering the glass and causing Misako and Nya to run out onto the deck. Immediately, Alex attempted to get back up, but sharp pains in his legs and hands caused him to stop. He had forgotten already that he was surrounded by glass shards.

Though, he watched from where he lay as Morro lunged for Clouse, to which Clouse used his lines to grab a mop bucket full of water and tossed the water onto the ghost. Immediately, Morro's nearly translucent form exploded into goo, causing Cass to cry her uncle's name.

Karma then tried to hit her uncle with her staff, to which Clouse simply caught it and threw her into a stack of crates they had sitting on the ship, turning to his next challenger. _Hah, and you claim you care for your family so much_ , Alex thought to himself as he got up, now ignoring the sharp pains in his body. Though, he watched as Clouse used his lines to hold every member of the team still, knowing that he couldn't stand to wait much longer. He knew that if he even tried again though, Clouse would surely kill him. Even without half of Alex's powers, he was still much more powerful than he could ever be.

He then thought about what Wu had mouthed to him the night of the old man's death. _"I know you're much more than this, I can see it in your face. I may not be a psychic, but I know for a fact that you will soon show that you're much more than what you let on. If history's starting to repeat itself, then let the day you realize you're much more than some weak, scheming child be the prime piece of history that is repeated. Both yourself and your mother would appreciate that,"_ the words ran through his head again, to which he looked down at his bleeding hands, the aura around them glowing for a moment before disappearing again.

 _I know I've always been overconfident about my own strength, but I've always known that I was weaker than the other masters. Though, despite my weakness, I should show Clouse that I'm much more than this, right?_ Alex thought to himself, _I can't just wave a white flag and let him terrorize them. If I'm supposed to be changed man, why am I standing here hesitating and letting Clouse hurt them!?_

Pinpointing the exact locations of the glass that gotten stuck in his skin, Alex pulled them out with his powers and gathered the other shards of glass along with it into a spear shape. Then, turning each individual piece of glass to its sharpest side, he used his powers to throw the glass spear at Clouse. He then darted out of the control room in a different way, so Clouse would have no idea where he was going.

As he ran, he heard the man grunt, to which he formed his hand into a fist, the signal for the spear to explode and send its glass shards into Clouse. He then heard the man yelling and searching for him, to which the master of psion smirked. Bringing the blade he had borrowed from Lilly to his hand, he first teleported behind Clouse. Then, when the man looked behind himself, he teleported to his left, and then to the right, and then behind him again the moment he turned away.

Then, when Clouse turned to look behind him again, Alex teleported in front of him and shattered the line that was holding the team. Clouse then turned to look at him and the team, infuriated.

"Holy crap, so that's who did the glass thing," Nathan commented, brushing himself off and reaching for his sais. Though, Alex stopped him.

"Worry about your missing friend. I started this mess with him, and I'll finish it," he told him, to which Karma stepped forward.

"Don't be an idiot! You can't take him on by yourself!" she shouted at the master of psion. Alex's smirk didn't fade.

"Karma, you've known me for years. You already know I'm an idiot," he told her, "and if there's one thing you should have learned about me, it's that you can't fix stupid."

"Now, focus on finding Eyebrows or whatever his name is! If I can't beat Clouse, the least I can do is slow him down for you guys!" he told the team. Deciding that natural selection was about to take place the others stepped back. Though, Karma hesitated, before stepping with them.

"Fine, but if you die you're going to get a major ass-kicking!" she told him, to which Alex nodded.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"My, you're cocky today. Where did this little confidence boost come from?" Clouse asked, raising an eyebrow, "You know I could squish you like the little bug you are, right?"

"Do it then," Alex challenged him, "I want to see you try."

Clouse then gave an angered look, before attempting to impale the master of psion with his lines. Alex simply jumped back, before shattering them with the katana and using his powers to force himself forward at a higher speed than usual in order to test how well his former boss could keep up. He continued to speed around Clouse, cutting him in random places with the blade until he finally reached Clouse's face, to which the man caught the blade before he could cut his new marking. "Your overconfidence is going to get you killed," Clouse told him, before holding onto the blade and kicking him away.

Alex tumbled to his feet, holding out a hand to balance himself. "And so will yours," he retorted, before lunging for him. Avoiding the blade, the master of psion ducked and kicked Clouse in the face. He then ducked again and hit Clouse in the gut, proceeding to teleport behind the man and pull on his ponytail in order to throw him into the floor. "Doesn't feel so great, does it you greaseball!?" Alex shouted, counting that as revenge for when Clouse had pulled on his hair earlier.

The man growled and jumped to his feet, before using his lines to anchor Alex in one spot. Though, as he approached the master of psion, he was then bombarded with miscellaneous crates and pieces of boulders. He then found that he had forgotten to hold Alex's hands still, or at least break them. Clouse cursed as blood began to leak from his nose, which was broken by a boulder.

"Mind if I cut in!?" Hunter shouted, before lunging at Clouse and trading blade blocks with him. He then blew the katana out of Clouse's hand, letting it skid over to Alex. Immediately, the master of psion picked up the blade and broke himself free. Seeing that he was freed, Hunter used his wind powers to push Clouse towards Alex, to which the master of psion took advantage of this. He managed to slice Clouse's cheek, but unfortunately it wasn't the one that beared the marking.

"And I'll _swing into action!_ " Karma then shouted, swinging from the crow's nest with a rope and landing a kick on her uncle's face. She then swung back up to the crow's nest, watching her uncle stomp his foot in rage.

"You insufferable, little-" Clouse began to shout, unleashing his lines, but Alex interrupted him by throwing a rock at his face, before blocking the lines with his borrowed blade. He then used his powers to borrow the whole team's weapons, causing some of them to give him confused looks as he formed the weapons in a ring around him. He then faced Clouse, making every weapon point towards the man. Clouse gave a look of outrage.

"This isn't right! You should be tired by now! Your energy should be sapped! Are you hiding that Garmadon boy behind you!?" he questioned as Alex approached him. The master of psion smiled and shook his head.

"No, Clouse. This is how it _should_ be. This is how it should have been this whole time," he spoke, "I should have had a large energy capacity like every other elemental master in history, and also have just as much power. Better yet _, I should have been just as fearsome as every other master of psion in history!"_

Alex had to admit, he was absentmindedly bending his brainwaves slightly, but he stopped once he sent all the weapons towards Clouse at once, causing the man to try to duck. Though he didn't manage to get impaled, cuts littered his back and face now, causing him to glare at the master of psion the minute he stood again. Alex only simply brought the weapons back to his side, unaffected by Clouse's permanent negative look.

"Your overconfidence is blinding you! You're severely outmatched and I'm just about to unleash an ultimate power! You're surely about to regret what's about to come next!" Clouse shouted, backing into the railing of the ship. Alex only continued to approach him. Clouse then began to stutter as he neared, even though Alex had thrown everyone's weapons aside except for the katana he had borrowed earlier.

The master of psion then stopped once he reached Clouse, then pointed the blade of the katana at his throat. "Try to use your lines once and I end you here," Alex threatened, glaring at Clouse. The man's eyes were wide, before he smirked.

"What, are you sparing me?" he questioned. Alex's expression didn't change.

"No, just wanted to give an asshole his proper sendoff," he said, before taking a few steps back. Clouse stared in confusion for a moment, before the master of psion then ran towards him and kicked him in the face, knocking him over the railing of the ship. Just as Alex landed back on his feet though, a line wrapped around his throat and pulled him down with Clouse, to which he heard someone call his name. Knowing that this fight wasn't over, Alex used his powers to slow down their fall, refusing to look down at his looming death below.

Using the katana, he shattered the line around his neck and attempted to force the blade on Clouse, to which the man tried to push it back. "You're acting odd," he commented, to which Alex gave a confused look.

"What do you mean?" he asked, continuing to force the blade onto Clouse. The man's questioning look did not falter.

"Don't act stupid. You and I can read each other's thoughts. You don't think I've listened to what you've thought?" Clouse questioned. Quite honestly, Alex hated the fact that this was true, especially since he was basically being forced to listen to this disgusting man's thoughts. That was all over now though, as Alex had gained back the missing piece of his powers. "You don't think I've heard your desires for an end to all this? Your desires to be freed from this world? Didn't you wish for death? Why don't you take the opportunity now and fall with me? You'll finally be free of whatever nightmares and stress plagued you!"

"I know what you're doing. You're thinking that you're going to get some reward for this, don't you? You think they're just going to let you into their team just because you killed me, don't you?" Clouse went on, "Unfortunately, I don't think that'll ever happen, boy. Once they find the one in black, they'll just leave you behind and allow you to turn to dust all on your lonesome, no 'thank you's or anything. They don't care, and they never will! No one does! It's just the way it is! They don't care about change!"

"I don't know why you cling onto this ideal that somehow they'll accept you. It's never going to happen, no matter what you do. You're nothing new or special!" Clouse began to shout, "I don't know why you just keep trying! There's nothing here for you! There's nothing left here to give you the will to live, so why do you insist on doing everything for these people who could give less of a shit of what happens to you now!? Why do you still insist on living even though you're dead!?"

It was silent for a moment, before Alex decided to speak, his waving hair hiding his expression. "You're right, there's nothing left here for me," he started, "but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try and fix everything that I have damaged and destroyed, both physical and mental. I'll let you know, I'm only helping them because one, you're the one who had destroyed my life in the first place, thinking that it was such a fantastic idea to kill my mother. Two, that there is people, or I guess a person, who actually cares for my wellbeing, as much as you like to deny it. But you're not wrong, I did desire death, until recently."

The master of psion's hair then moved out of his face, revealing his watering eyes. "I'd hate to disappoint you, but even as a dead man I have a will to live! Even though I know you'll never understand, I now not only live for myself, but someone else too! I live to make this world free of people like you, and to make this world brighter for others, even though I contributed to the very same darkness that plagues this history!" he told Clouse, "I live to make sure this someone never has to deal with assholes like you again! I live to make sure you never terrorize another innocent person ever again!"

He then applied more force on the katana, almost making Clouse's grip slip. "You can't do this! I'm the one who gave you a place to sleep and eat!" the man shouted. Alex only glared at him.

"You also gave me severe organ damage and a deteriorating mental state that's filled with your bullshit reasons for why I'm less than dirt! You can just imagine how thankful I am for that!" Alex shouted, before sighing, then snickering, "You know what's funny? I felt alive and happy again the minute you died. _I'd really like those feelings back."_

Alex then pulled the katana away and impaled Clouse through the chest before he could react. As the man coughed and gasped, the master of psion pulled the blade from his chest and placed his foot there instead. "Good riddance," he whispered, before letting go of Clouse with his powers and kicking him farther down to the desert below. Alex then, in turn, let go of himself, as his energy level was far past its limit.

 _They probably forgot about me, but it's okay. At least I avenged Mom,_ he thought to himself, _That's all the closure I needed._

Though, just as he was about to accept his fall, he felt a hand close around his arm, stopping his fall. He then looked up, finding that Karma was the one that had caught him. He then noticed that she and her friends had formed a human chain from the deck of the Bounty to where he hung now. "You're dead wrong if you thought we were just going to leave you with that jerk," Karma told him, smirking.

Surprised by their return, Alex absentmindedly let Lilly's katana drop from his hand, causing her to silently whine about how that was the fourth one she lost. The master of psion then smiled and grabbed onto Karma's arms, allowing them to pull him up.

Once he was back on the deck though, Karma said, "Now, I know what you're gonna say. 'You didn't have to save me ya know!', well, too bad. I did anyway. It's the best I could actually go through with doing in return for fending off my uncle like that."

Alex snickered. "What? Am I _that_ predictable?"

"Eh, to me you are...most of the time," Karma replied.

"Well, okay, if I was gonna say that, then you were going to say 'Well I did it anyway because you're a pretty okay dude and I'd feel guilty for letting you die'," Alex predicted, to which Karma laughed.

"And after that you'd probably be like 'Well, thanks anyway. I-It's not like I appreciate the fact that you care or anything! D-Don't get the wrong idea'!" the master of darkness replied, mimicking his usual action of crossing his arms. Alex then broke into laughter.

"Yeah, and then I'd say 'How about we stop chattering and get back to finding Cole'," Kai interjected, to which Karma and Alex's laughter ceased. The master of darkness then nodded.

"Right. We shouldn't be far," she said. Though, once she turned to look and see if Nya was back to steering, another thunderclap sounded, causing everyone to be on guard. Although, this time, this thunderclap wasn't from an uninvited guest. Instead, the team watched as a large rift ripped open the night sky, emitting green light revealing a floating island before it.

"It's Yang's Temple! We've got to hurry!" Sammie shouted, to which Nya nodded and hit the switch for the boosters on the ship.

"You guys better hold on to something! These boosters are going to throw you off the ship if you don't!" she warned everyone, to which they obeyed her orders and held on to something attached to the ship. Nya then grabbed the wheel and hit the gas button, granting the ship its ability to move. "Here we go!" she shouted, before the ship sped towards the temple, leaving dust and sand in its wake.

 **11/12**


	5. Chapter 5

**_Yang's Temple, 11:00pm_**

Cole sped up the stairs of the temple as fast as he could, knowing time was limited. After fighting with many of Yang's students and hearing his plan to open a rift to grant him immortality, he had ran after the old man as soon as he could. Though, once he finally reached the roof, Yang was already standing there, staring at a crack that was breaking into the sky. He then turned around, facing the master of earth.

"You're much too late, Cole," he smiled as the rift broke open. The ghostly man only glared at Yang, then took a defensive stance.

"No, I'm not. I'm just early enough to stop you!" he shouted, but before he could do anything, he was held back by Yang's ghastly students, who seemingly recovered from defeat quickly. The old man cackled as Cole struggled to break free.

"Ah, you're so pathetic. All that strength you boast of is just hot air!" Yang stepped towards him, "Oh, and now our confident little pebble is going to disappear without anyone ever knowing he did!"

"You're wrong! My friends are still out there! They'll come for me! I know it!" Cole argued, still struggling. Yang laughed as if he had just heard the funniest joke ever.

"Your 'friends'!? My boy, if they were your friends they would have come for you by now! Even if they faced what I threw at them they would have been here by now!" he spat, his words laced with poison, "Face it! They don't care and they've forgotten about you! You don't matter! And you're going to disappear without them ever knowing you're gone! They'll just live on while you fade away!"

Cole froze as his recent mental battles with his athazagoraphobia came back, reminding him of how much he feared being left alone. Though, he couldn't find a way to deny Yang's words, as they indeed cut like a knife and left him speechless. He then reviewed his friends' actions from earlier that night, and his fears were confirmed. He was indeed alone now.

 _They never looked for me when I disappeared. They only simply went about their day and went to celebrate. Even my own sister...she was too preoccupied with her boyfriend to even think about looking for me,_ Cole thought, looking down at his translucent feet, _They don't care, do they? They'll just leave me to die like they've always done. It's no wonder their 'accidents' have nearly led to my death thousands of times._

The master of earth could then feel his existence slipping, his form beginning to flicker like a light before it went out. Though, the distant call of a voice caused him to look up, searching for the sound. He then heard it again, but louder this time, with the voice having a distinct tone that seemed awfully familiar. His eyes continued to desperately search for the voice, wondering if it was either the call of help, or the call of the dead before they pull him into the afterlife.

"COLE!" the voice then called even louder this time, the tone more familiar than ever before. Cole then looked to his right, seeing a flicker of light as he searched for his sister's voice once more.

"Sammie!?" he called back, trying to break free of the students restraining him. Yang mumbled something about him hallucinating.

"COLE!?" a different voice called then, one he knew just as well.

"Cass!?" Cole called back, his fears of being alone beginning to diminish. The familiar ship he had lived on for as long as he knew then pulled up next to the roof, his sister and girlfriend standing on the mast, smiling once their eyes met. The master of earth could then feel ectoplasm welling up in his eyes as he saw the rest of his friends, as well as an addition he didn't really care for.

"You guys..." Cole spoke, trying not to cry tears of joy as Jay squeezed past the girls and ran onto the mast.

"Alright ya old geezer! Hand over my best friend and I won't sick the water masters on you! Also, stop screwing with the rift! Or I'll shock you myself!" the master of lightning shouted confidently, his green eye burning with courage and passion. Though, Yang simply snorted, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, really?" he asked, smirking, before the crack in the sky broke into a rift, blowing the ship away from the island. Cole gasped as he watched his friends blow away, before he felt energy and power surge inside him. His wide eyes then turned into angry ones, and he broke free of the students' hold in an instant.

"Fine! If I can't change you idiots I'll at least change the course of this plan!" Cole shouted, before orange cracks erupted on his arms and sleeves. Hard lava rock then covered his fists and half of his arms as the energy erupted inside him, signifying his true potential had returned. He then turned to Yang, who had taken a defensive stance. Cole already knew he was going to fight.

He traded hits and blocks with Yang furiously, not once ever feeling his energy trickle away. It was almost as if he were superhuman now, maybe even invincible. Even when his hood flew off from the wind he kept punching and kicking furiously, nearly managing to knock the Yin Blade from Yang's hands. Though, Yang managed to stop him for a moment by making Cole fall through an open hole in the temple's ceiling. Though, Cole got out in a flash, and immediately levitated after Yang as the old man headed towards the open rift.

Reaching as far as he could whilst using airjitzu, Cole grabbed onto Yang's leg, causing the old man to panic. "What do you think you're doing!? You're slowing me down!"

"Exactly, because we're not done here yet, Yang! I'm going to finish what I came here to do and that's stopping you!" Cole shouted, "Besides, you're wrong about everyone forgetting about me and leaving me alone! The only person alone here is you!"

Yang's eyes widened. "I'm not alone! I have my family!" he shouted, gesturing to his ghostly students below. Cole squinted at him.

"They aren't family! They're slaves! Slaves you've held captive for years!" he replied, "Prisoners you've manipulated into submission!"

Cole then threw a punch at Yang, to which the old man tried to block with the Yin Blade. Unfortunately, though, Cole's punch shattered the blade and connected with Yang's face, causing him to stumble back for a moment. His ghostly students then lost their hoods, their clueless and confused faces replacing the earlier emotionless ones. Yang cursed.

"Damn you! You've broken my spell!" he yelled, glaring down at Cole. Though, as he did so, his students ascended to the rift using their airjitzu, before jumping through. They then appeared as humans on the ground before cheering, to which an idea grew inside Cole's head. "Traitors..." Yang whispered under his breath.

"Serves you right," Cole huffed.

"They left me. They left me because I've failed them as a sensei, haven't I?" Yang questioned, his tone suddenly changing. Cole blinked.

"Um, what?"

"That just adds to my list of failures, doesn't it? In all my years of studying the various forms of martial arts, all I've done is fail," Yang went on, "I thought that once, just this once, with all these students who still had faith in me, I could finally succeed and impact the history of this world and the history of martial arts. But of course, as you can see, I'm already set on the path of failure, even in the afterlife."

"But doing horrible things is what set you on this path!" Cole argued, "Did you really think reviving all our old enemies on the night of the Day of the Departed would automatically grant you success? Did you really think giving up on the good road to success would grant you freedom from failure!?"

"I'll have to admit, boy, I've grown arrogant. I've become just as childishly selfish as that boy Wu once raised," Yang admitted, "I've become reckless since all I've thirsted for is success. But now I'm beginning to realize how terrible I've been to both you and your friends, and for that, I apologize."

"But what drove you to start all this!?" Cole questioned.

"I...was afraid of being forgotten...much like you. I wanted to be remembered in history, and make some sort of impact on the hearts of those who wish to become the future masters of martial arts," Yang explained, "But all I am now is just some spooky tourist attraction. Something that gives some lazy businessman profits while I sit here and sulk for years on end."

Cole paused for a moment, thinking, before he finally replied "Then why don't you come with me?"

"What?" Yang asked, giving a look of surprise.

"Why don't you come with me?" Cole repeated, "We both can become human again. We just have to get through the rift, and then you'll be able to live again!"

Yang's eyes widened, before he smiled and sighed, his raven black beard hiding his smiling mouth. "I appreciate the offer, Cole, but I think you should go."

"What!? But Yang, we both can go together! You'll be able to do what you wanted!" Cole replied. The old sensei didn't look at him.

"Listen to me, Cole. I no longer have a chance in this world. I'm dead, and everything would be better if I stayed that way. You, on the other hand, you're meant to be amongst the living. You're meant to impact the lives of those you save, and those you have come to love," he told him, "You shouldn't be in the realm of the dead. Not yet. So, go, don't rob yourself of this chance to be a part of the nature around you. Besides, the temple needs a master after all."

"Wait, Yang-!" Cole started to shout, before Yang took his hand and threw him into the rift, smiling as he saw the master of earth's ghostly form for one last time.

 _ **Meanwhile**_

"Can any of you see what's going on!?" Sammie shouted, an extremely worried look on her face. They all had been craning their necks to watch Cole's fight with Yang, but now that they all had lost sight of both of them, Sammie was starting to panic.

"I don't know, but the rift just closed! I think one of them flew into it!" Nya informed them all in a shout from the bridge as she turned the ship towards the floating island. She then docked it on the island, anchoring the ship in place. "We'll have to get off and see."

"Please let him be okay," Cass whispered to herself, before they all ran off the ship, staring up at the sky above where the rift once was. Neither Yang nor Cole was in sight, only the stars and the eclipsed moon. Sammie was starting to tremble out of worry, even as Nathan comforted her.

"God damn it! He better be okay! I'll hunt that asshole down myself if he decides to disappear again!" Jay grumbled, "I'll aggressively show him how much I care and how worried we all were!"

"Well, good news, Jay. You don't have to hunt me down. I'm right here," a familiar voice suddenly startled Jay, causing him to turn around in an instant. There, Cole stood in the flesh, a new, ghastly green scar interrupting his right, bushy eyebrow. Sammie then darted over to her brother immediately, tackling him in a hug.

"Oh my god, oh my god. Is this for real!? Are you really human again!?" she questioned, running her hands across her brother's face and through his fluffy hair, "I-It's not temporary, is it?"

"No, it's for good now. I'm back forever and it's going to stay that way," Cole assured her, to which tears of joy came to his sister's eyes. She then wrapped him in a hug before Cass joined in, then Jay, then everyone except Alex, who was left feeling awkward and out of place.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Cass whispered, taking in the feeling of being able to hold Cole in her arms once again. The master of earth smiled.

"I'm just glad to be reunited with you guys once again," he said in a sigh of relief, already adjusting to the sensation of being able to feel again. Though, as the team rejoiced, Alex took this as his signal to step away, and decided to walk over to a clearing that wasn't very far from the others where he could see the eclipsed moon much clearer. He could already see that the sun was starting to ever-so-slowly move away from the moon, signaling that the spell currently keeping him in the living realm would soon come to an end.

"It's time for you to go, isn't it?" a slightly high-pitched voice suddenly asked softly behind him, to which he turned around to find Karma standing there. He was already confused as to why she had broken away from her friends.

"Yeah...but y-you really shouldn't worry about it. I mean, your friend over there just became human for the first time in a long time I'm assuming. You should probably go see him instead," Alex told her. Karma raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but I can see him whenever. You on the other hand, you're leaving now and I'd least like to see you off. You know, instead of getting something abrupt like...last time," she answered. The master of psion only blinked.

"I still don't understand why you'd like to see me instead of Eyebrows over there," he replied, looking confused. He had to admit, he still wasn't used to having non-insult-filled interactions with her and her teammates.

Karma sighed. "Look, you're my friend. Why _wouldn't_ I want to say goodbye to you? Besides, you're the only person who kept me sane during that whole deal with my uncle...well...most of the time."

Alex then blinked, then a bashful look came to his face. Though, when he saw a confused look appear on Karma's face, he answered "Sorry, I'm just not used to you saying those kinds of things...or calling me _that_. This all is kind of feeling like some weird dream or one long hallucination."

"I wish some of this was a dream," Karma mumbled. Alex then hesitated for a moment.

"Well...uh...h-how exactly do we do these 'goodbye' things? I'm really feeling like some sort of alien right now," he asked, feeling a little awkward. Karma then giggled.

"Come here, you nerd," she said, pulling him into a hug. For a moment, the master of psion felt slightly embarrassed, before wrapping his arms around her in return. There was silence for a moment before Alex finally decided to speak.

"I...don't think I can say sorry enough for everything I've put you and your friends through. Hell, if I even got the chance to live every day would be filled with me continuously apologizing," he told her, to which she snickered.

"You don't need to. I already forgave you," Karma replied.

"...But, I can say 'thank you'," Alex went on, "So, thank you for not killing me in the battle against Nadakhan and when you first saw me during that ordeal with Clouse. Thank you for being there and sort of defending me whenever Clouse decided to be an ass. Thank you for forgiving me, and...uh...thank you for being a...friend."

Karma smiled. "What can I say except you're welcome?"

Alex sighed. "I still don't feel like I've done enough to warrant your forgiveness though. Like, I haven't proven to the world enough that I'm good now. That I'm not who I used to be," he admitted.

"Good is not something you are, Alex, it's something you do," Karma replied, "And to me, you've done plenty to warrant my forgiveness. The events of today are just further proof. Though, you don't need to prove anything to the world. Don't let the world be the judge of how far you've progressed and changed. Only you can decide that, and only you alone. Though, if you'd like my opinion, I think you've changed and progressed much more than you think, but I'd like to let you be the judge of that."

Alex was silent for a moment then, taking in what she had said. He then smiled. "Maybe you're the psychic one here. You always, somehow, know just what to say. It's like you can read my mind and know exactly what I'm feeling."

Karma laughed nervously. "Well, I wouldn't exactly say I always know what to say," she replied, "but I guess I'm pretty empathetic."

"I believe that's something good to have," Alex said, "but I don't think I can say anything more. I don't know how much time I have left."

Karma looked up at the moon for a moment, seeing that the both itself and the sun were starting to move apart. She sighed, not wanting to tell him that he didn't have long. "I just wish you could stay longer. Preferably for a few more years," she told him.

"I know. I do too," the master of psion replied as he started to lose the feeling in his feet and legs, a sign that his time would soon be up. "But...you know...I feel like I wouldn't know what to do if I did get to stay. I mean, I've avenged my mother, and I've gotten rid of Clouse. What else is left for me to do to make things right?"

"The thing is...you've already made things right. As for what you could do, you'd get to live longer. You'd be able to live in your new changed lifestyle, though, I doubt that you'd get to live with us," Karma answered, "but other than that, you've done everything you wanted to do...except rule the world."

Alex gave a half-suppressed laugh. "Yeah, but I could care less if I ruled the world now. The only thing I care about now is making sure no one ever gives you trouble. Though, I can't really help with that when I'm dead."

"Don't worry about it. You've done enough," Karma reassured him, before the numbness spread to the master of psion's arms and torso.

There was silence for a moment before Alex decided to speak again. "Karma, I..." he started, but hesitated, "...I'm glad to have met you...even if we didn't really meet in the best of ways."

The master of darkness then smiled yet again. "I am too, even if you were a bit of an ass then," she replied, giggling slightly. Alex laughed as a response, even though now he had lost feeling in his neck. He then thought he had felt something like Karma's nose brush his cheek, but he had lost feeling in his face at that exact moment, signaling that it was time to go.

" _Dasvidanya_ , Karma," Alex spoke in a quiet voice, before his spirit disconnected with the body, causing it to fade away into dust like the bodies of the resurrected foes had done.

"See you around, Nerd," the master of darkness gave a small wave and a smile, before returning to where her friends stood. They seemed to still be rejoicing, though, Lloyd was the first one to notice her return.

"I was wondering where you went," he told her upon her arrival, looking pleased to see her. Karma shrugged.

"Just had to see someone off," she told him.

"Oh, yeah, the eclipse ended, didn't it?" Lloyd asked, "Morro told us all about the spell on our way to the museum."

"Yeah, but it's okay. I just have another book closed now out of the many that have been opened," Karma told him, "Though, I wish the brothers and Cass would have gotten closure with Morro."

Lloyd frowned. "Yeah, but they seem to be doing okay," the master of energy said, glancing over where Morro's nephews and niece stood. Karma sighed.

"What they seem doesn't always mean that's what they are," she replied, stepping past him.

"You're right, but we should acknowledge them about it later," Lloyd suggested, "For now, we should end this holiday on a positive note, not a negative one. That's what you've always wanted with everything, correct?"

The master of darkness gave a small smile. "Yeah. I'd like that," she said, before taking Lloyd's hand and joining in the reuinion between Cole and the others. Though, as they did so, three familiar figures watched from the window of Yang's temple. Two scratching their beards and grinning while the third watched his son and wife with pride.

"See, Wu? I told you they'd be fine," Garmadon finally spoke up, looking over at his brother. The old man chuckled.

"I'll have to admit, I did underestimate them," Wu replied, "They handled everything much better than I thought."

"That just goes to show how great of a sensei you were, Wu," Yang spoke up, standing between the brothers. The old man chuckled.

"Yes, but so were you and my brother, Yang," Wu replied, his ghostly form holding a teacup while Garmadon's ghostly form held his beloved bamboo staff.

"I forsee great things in that son of yours, Garmadon. He'll be a wonderful teacher," Yang then said, "but so will his teammates down there. There's greatness in each of them, and they may not even know it yet."

"Yes, I can tell too," Garmadon replied with a smile. There was silence between the old men before Wu decided to speak.

"You know, they really remind me of the past generation. It's almost as if history really is repeating itself. Though, I had said the same thing after the Serpentine Wars with the past generation," he chuckled. The other men chuckled.

"I think the only difference here is that we found out what would have happened had Annushka been a bitter girl, and if we had allowed that mechanic boy-what was his name? Pierre?-to show his worth," Garmadon said, to which the others laughed.

"Or if Jingyi could control fire instead of Shang," Yang laughed. The men then continued to laugh and make their comparisons as the lanterns all flickered back to their festive red glow and the lanterns in the bright sky above flickered back to life. Even if the holiday was coming to a close, the crowds within the city cheered again, and festive music roared back to life, setting more lanterns alight, and returning the city to the harmony it had worked so hard to achieve for years.

 **12/12**


	6. Chapter 6

_**Epilogue**_

Solomon slowly opened his eyes behind his circular-lensed glasses, finding that Lin and Annushka were still sitting before him. "Well? Anything noteworthy about the future?" Annushka sat forward, her dark blue eyes wide, "Please tell me I'm at least not a disappointment!"

"Anika, there's no way you can be a disappointment. You wiped out most of the snakes yesterday on your own!" Lin argued, dusting off her treasured chestplate.

"I at least want to know that I'm not a disappointment of a mother in the future! Lots of things can happen in a few years ya know!" Annushka replied, to which Lin sighed.

"You're getting way too dramatic about this," the master of darkness told her friend, pinching the bridge of her nose. Solomon only smiled beneath his red beard.

"What kind of master of time would I be if I spoiled the adventure for you?" he asked, to which Annushka frowned.

"Please at least tell me something! I'm dying from the suspense of what lies ahead in my future!" the master of psion cried, "Gosh, at least tell me I keep Vitya in the future!"

"Anika, you can't keep a bear as a pet!" Lin argued, "It'd eat your kid!"

"I can hold that fat thing up with my damn pinky! You really think I'd let Vitya get that far!?" Annushka replied, to which Lin raised an eyebrow.

"Anika, you've left me at a gas station before. I know how irresponsible you are," the master of darkness sighed, to which the master of psion flopped into her chair and pouted.

"Well, if you'd really like to know," Solomon finally responded, pushing up his glasses, "You both will get to live peaceful lives shortly after this. You both will indeed have children, and they'll get to do...er...good things though you both may never get to see all of it."

"So basically happy lives until we die of old age?" Annushka asked. Solomon nodded, despite knowing that wasn't true.

"See, Anika? I told you it wasn't all that bad," Lin told her best friend, before handing Solomon three coins as payment. Both girls then got up from their seats and started to walk out as they discussed what had been said. Solomon watched as they left with a sad smile, having witnessed both of their deaths in his viewing of the future. Though, it was also his own death and his future son's death that scared him even more, though he knew he could do nothing. He couldn't even look at several of his fellow elemental masters now without knowing that they were going to be murdered within a few years.

Though, the vision of what the future generation of elemental masters would do pleased him greatly. In fact, he was happy with the growth and experience the next generation would receive. He had a feeling that Lin would be overjoyed at how much her future daughter would grow, despite every obstacle and tragedy thrown her way. He already knew Annushka would be proud of how much her future son would learn from his mistakes and learn to correct them. Solomon was even sure, too, that every elemental master on the field outside his tent would surely be proud of what their future children could accomplish.

"I am but a simple master of time. I must not interfere," Solomon told himself as he rose from his seat and brushed his shaggy hair out of his face, "For everything that happens must stay that way if we want our future generations to get the happy ending they deserve. Though, that doesn't excuse the things that are forced to happen in this world because of evil..."

Solomon then put on his jacket and walked out of his tent as the battle horn began to roar across the land, notifying everyone of an incoming Serpentine attack. As other elemental masters and civilian soldiers ran past him, he simply pulled two katana from their sheaths in his jacket, their turquoise handles causing him to recall that someday these blade's would be given to a girl his son chose to adopt off the streets. He decided to treat them with care.

"...Much like this battle. Though, the evil that started all this has yet to be found," he said, before running into battle, accompanied by other masters. They then started their last battle, knowing that if they succeeded in this one they would finally end the Serpentine Wars, no matter how close it was.

And they did just that.

 **THE END**

 _ **A/N: Oh goodness, is this the end? Am I sure this time? Yes I am.**_

 _ **As nice as Hands of Time looks from the trailer that was recently posted by Lego, I'm sorry to inform you guys that The Midnight Two will continue no longer. It's been a long and fun road, but it's finally time to bring this crazy train to a stop, as much as I love these characters.**_

 _ **I'd like to thank TheRealWindElemental and HSBB2_ once again for lending in the characters Nathan, Sammie, Hunter, Cass, and their parents, as well as contributions like the Vegeta Chicken/Nappa Egg from volume 4 and The Grand Central Station of Disappointment nickname from volume 5. These two are absolutely wonderful and great people and I really recommend you read their fics, which showcase their own characters ^^ (and maybe cameos from mine? *wink wink*)**_

 _ **Though, this isn't the end of the writing road for me. I definitely plan to continue on with my own original series, Illusory, and another original series that is coming soon ^^ So, uh, if you liked some of the characters in this story, I'll bet you'll be pleased to know that a few of them return in Illusory. (Illusory is currently being written on Wattpad, and so will be every other original series I make.)**_

 _ **But other than that, I'd like to thank you, the reader, for being on this crazy ride with me, and sticking around for however long you've been reading this series, whether you've been reading it for this past year or just binge-read the series yesterday. I'm not sure I would have ever continued this series without support from you guys and my friends ^^**_

 _ **Trust me, I love reading you guys' comments and messages. I just really love seeing what people think about what I've made, and I appreciate every amount of constructive criticism I receive. I don't think I would have ever grown as a writer without constructive criticism ^^**_

 _ **But thank you all again, and as said in the last chapter:**_

 _ **See you around**_

 _ **-Grace/Peri~**_


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